


Operation Hawkins

by ThisGorlie



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Byeler - Freeform, F/M, Loosely based off of Maximum Ride, M/M, byler, eventual byeler, takes place in the mid eighties
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-31
Updated: 2018-03-18
Packaged: 2019-02-25 22:55:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 55,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13222959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThisGorlie/pseuds/ThisGorlie
Summary: Mike, Will, Eleven, Dustin, Lucas, and Max: the six of them were forcibly subject to experiments in Hawkins Laboratory for their entire lives due to special powers each of them possess. After their successful escape with the help of Jim Hopper, they currently reside in a safe cabin within the remote forest of Hawkins, Indiana…until the “Bad Men” of Hawkins Lab find them and take Eleven. The group embarks on a journey through the country to rescue Eleven and discover their origins.





	1. Chapter 1

_Beep! Beep! Beep!_

Mike snapped his eyes open and jolted upright from his bed. He immediately turned off the alarm that sat on the counter next to him. His heartbeat was rapid, his adrenaline persistent. He tried catching his breath, recollecting the nightmare he just had. It was repetitive as he had lost count of the amount of times it tormented him in his sleep.

It comprised of the day that he and his friends escaped that damned lab.

Exactly one year and three months ago counting today.

The first time he had this nightmare was the one year anniversary of their escape. Since then he had this dream at random, un-periodic intervals of time – different variations of it. In some variations they would successfully escape, while in some they were captured and then killed. The latter dreams encapsulated what Mike called ‘scarier alternative realities’. Sometimes they would occur once every few weeks or even as much as twice a week. Regardless of that, it was still incredibly terrifying to wake up from…just as terrifying as when he first dreamt them.

He hoped the reoccurring nightmares weren’t an ominous sign that the ‘Bad Men’ were on their tracks to capture them and take them back to the lab.

Hawkins National Laboratory.

Mike and his five friends spent nearly their entire lives trapped in that dire place. They were treated as lab-rats to be prodded and experimented on due to special powers they were born with - special powers that were integral to facilitating their escape. With the help of a very special Sherriff - Sheriff Joe Hopper - they were able to live an isolated but safe existence in the deep of the forest.

It was a small and cramped cabin that Hopper’s grandfather owned decades ago, but it was comfy. Not in the sense that the furnishings were comfortable, but in the sense that Mike and the others could feel a plentitude of safety…away from the scientists and other workers in Hawkins Lab who tested on them…or what they’d call the ‘Bad Men’. Hopper was like a father to the six of them, he housed them, fed them, and constantly reassured them that the Bad Men could never reach the remote area they resided in.

However, Hopper suddenly disappeared six months ago and he never came back. It was a unanimity among the six that he died; Mike thought that the Bad Men were the ones to find Hopper before they killed him for “betraying” them. With that, the 15 year old boy replaced Hopper as the caretaker or at least a lesser version of one and naturally took charge as he was the oldest of the six.

When Mike’s frantic heartbeat lessened, he pulled his bedsheet off of him. He didn’t have time to mull over that nightmare any longer; he just had to accept that he’d probably dream about it for the rest of his life. He looked at the alarm; it was 9:50 A.M. That meant it was time to cook breakfast.

He suddenly flinched when he heard the sound of glass break.

“What the fuck, Dustin!” A frustrated voice shouted from the kitchen.

“My hand slipped!” The voice belonging to Dustin said, “Lucas, you’re going to step on it!”

With his habitual fast-reflex, Mike immediately got off the bed and sped towards the kitchen. He stopped when he saw the other two boys standing across from each other. One of them had unruly, curly light-brunette hair, a hat partially concealing it. His clothes were baggy, his sweater almost slipping off his shoulders - Dustin. The other boy was slightly taller with a leaner frame; he was dark-skinned with short afro-textured hair – Lucas. The two were careful not to step on the numerous glass shards that surrounded them. Mike resisted the urge to yell at the two boys for being so careless.

“Can you guys for once be careful and stop breaking dishes?!” Mike exclaimed; they had a limited amount of those and they couldn’t afford to break anymore. Hopper had left them essentials such as money, food, water, glassware and dishes to drink and eat with, etc. If they ran out of anything they’d have to go out and buy something, making themselves liable to risk. Even though Hopper had given them a map of Hawkins, Indiana and instructed them of important locations and where they were located, it was imperative for them to stay within sight of the cabin unless it was an “absolute emergency”.

“That was all Dustin!” Lucas retorted, causing Dustin to eye him in irritation, “I’ve only broken a plate once and that was weeks ago!”

Mike pinched the bridge of his nose. Within a few seconds he could smell something burning from the stove.

“Shit, shit, shit!” Lucas frantically exclaimed. Dustin’s eyes widened, noticing the edges of the omelet Lucas had been frying on the stove were pitch black. Lucas immediately pulled the skillet away from the pan before the fire alarm above them started ringing. The smoke arising from the pan was clearly visible at this point.

Mike gritted his teeth together to keep from shouting expletives. He swore he loved these two, but sometimes they could frustrate him to wits end. The two were what Mike called partners-in-crime, always up to no good when they were together. Lucas’ to-the-point, rational personality often clashed with Dustin’s more carefree demeanor but they remained close. Being the second oldest at 15, Lucas often replaced Mike as the ‘designated one-in-charge’ when he wasn’t in the mood.

“What the hell happened in here?”

Mike turned around and saw a girl, messy long, red hair spilling out of the bun she tied it up in. She was still dressed in her red flannel pajamas, her blue eyes groggy with sleepiness. Max. She was the third oldest of the six, her fifteenth birthday occurring just a few weeks before Dustin’s. Although she quarreled with Mike at times, she often shared his frustration with Lucas’ and Dustin’s disastrous cooking endeavors.

“Go ask them,” Mike finally said, gesturing to the frantic Lucas who tried turning off the fire alarm and a calmer but still agitated Dustin who was looking for the broom to clean up the glass shards. He bypassed Max to go wake up the remaining two, earning a confused frown from the red-headed girl.

He knocked a door that led into another bedroom. When he heard a soft ‘come in’, he pushed open the door. A girl with short, tousled and disheveled brown hair sat up on her bed – with a slight movement of her head the micro-sized t.v that sat on the stand adjacent to her turned off.

“Hey, El.”

“Good morning, Mike,” The girl, ‘El’ responded, in her quiet but soft voice. Her full name was Eleven (being called subject 011 during their time at the lab) as she was the only one of the six who didn’t have any records of their birth name so the others simply referred to her as El, by her admission of course. Out of the six, she was the closest to Hopper so his sudden disappearance devastated her. The normally reserved and closed-off El opened up to him fast and he was immediately fascinated with her unique personality which included her almost obsessive interest in television. As a result, he gave her the small TV as a gift when she turned 14 seven months ago.

“Are we having Eggos for breakfast today?” She asked.

“If you want,” Mike replied, “I can go ahead and make some…after Dustin cleans up his mess.”

“Again?” Eleven inquired.

“Yeah, twice this week now. It’s a record, even for Dustin,” Mike said, understanding that Eleven was referring to Dustin’s habitual obliteration of the ceramic dishes. Compared to the other five, Eleven’s vocabulary was lacking as she was tested on the most. That meant less time to acquire basic English-speaking skills from the “teachers” within the lab. Her powers were of much interest to Hawkins Lab – they comprised of telekinesis and the ability to locate places and people. 

Eleven smiled, amused at Dustin’s unchanging habits.

“Blueberry,” Eleven clarified, as Mike was getting ready to leave her room, “Blueberry Eggos.”

 “Got it,” Mike weakly smiled back, before he left and made his way to the last door in the hallway.

When he was about to knock on the door, it opened, startling Mike. A short-statured boy who barely reached Mike’s chin had answered it. He had brown hair, shaped into a neat bowl cut, his bright, prominent hazel eyes staring up at Mike. He had already changed out of his pajamas into a navy sweater and light-blue jeans.

“Sorry, Mike,” The last and youngest of the six apologized. He was 14 year old Will Byers.

As Dustin and Lucas shared a unique bond with each other, Mike and Will shared a very special one as well. Mike felt kind of mushy admitting this, but Will meant the world to him. He was kind, easy to talk to, and incredibly selfless. Mike also was the first person Will would come to if he had trouble with anything and vice versa. Will was quiet and timid which brought on Mike’s naturally protective streak, him being the youngest added on to that.

“You don’t look well,” Will continued, noticing the sullenness in Mike’s brown eyes. Will knew that expression on his face was only apparent during _those_ days, “…Was it that dream again?”

“How did you know?”

“Dream Walking,” Will muttered, reminding Mike for what felt like the 100th time. He spoke in louder voice, slight amusement in his tone, “I thought you caught on by now.”

“Oh, yeah- of course,” Mike nervously chuckled, rubbing the back of his head.

That was Will’s power. He had the ability to subconsciously enter people’s dreams which was just an extent of his larger scale ability of True Sight. In summarization, he was able to see between planes of alternate realities…whether it be dreams or alternate realities in real-time. He habitually did so whenever Mike had _that_ nightmare. It seemed remarkable at first glance, but it was often a frightening ordeal for the boy as it was something he was unable to control it when his emotions got the better of him – and that frequently happened when they were kept as test subjects in Hawkins lab. Since then, Will sparingly used his powers.  
 

\--------  


“Isn’t it too cold to take a walk?”

“You’d rather be cramped up in here for the whole day?”

Lucas raised his hands up in defeat, unable to argue with Max on that. The six were situated in their seats around the square shaped dining table. Their plates were nearly empty, as they were finishing breakfast. Eleven had eaten her weight in Eggos while the others opted for toast and jam. Since they didn’t have to deal with the stress of going to school due to being fugitives…technically at least, they had a lot of time during the day. It was either spent exploring the vast forest that surrounded the cabin or engaging in more personal ventures such as watching TV, educating themselves with the numerous amounts of books that Hopper left in their possession, and the four boys of the group playing the Dungeons and Dragons board game – another gift from Hopper.

“Those who want to go out should raise their hands,” Dustin said as his hand was up in the air, “…and those who don’t can just stay home for the day.”

“I thought we all agreed that we stay together at all costs,” Mike spoke up, causing Dustin to reluctantly put his hand back down. On the slim chance that the Bad Men actually found them in the deserted forest they resided in, it was imperative that the six be together at once for two reasons. If one or more of them were located and taken separately, the others would have no clue when and where they were taken – making the process of rescuing them difficult. The second reason was each of their specific powers. They knew that each of their powers came in handy, especially when they were together. This was evidenced by their ability to escape Hawkins Lab in the first place. Their individual skillsets complimented each other and when used together they could easily stun their enemies.

“You think they’d find us all the way out here?” Max asked, genuine curiosity in her voice, “There haven’t been any sightings of people at all since Hopper first brought us here.”

“W-well no,” Mike replied, the nightmare coming to mind.

“Better to stay safe in case something happens,” Eleven added, “We’re safest when we’re together.”

“Exactly,” Mike agreed, his composure coming back.

It was then that they unanimously agreed that they would all go out. Each of them made sure not to step on the trip wire that surrounded the cabin, curtesy of Hopper. He told them all it would make a loud, booming gunshot noise if the slightest movement was made against it.

The six were bundled up in their coats as it was freezing outside, refreshing, but freezing. As they spoke, they could see the air come out from their mouth - they were in the latter days of November, the early winter breeze already arriving. Mike and Will led the way, walking side-by-side. The smaller boy held onto a sketchbook, charcoal-based pencils stuffed in his left coat pocket. Behind them, Lucas and Dustin were busy chattering away with Eleven and Max, Eleven being the mediator between their quarrels.

When they reached a reasonable distance from the cabin, Will sat down against a tree. Mike watched as he flipped open his sketchbook (a gift to him from Hopper) to an empty page. He pulled out the charcoal pencils and began to sketch the landscape ahead of him.

Forest.

Forest that was saturated with trees with fallen colorful leaves that covered the ground. Above them the morning sun shone brightly, cracking through the sparse openings that the tree branches left.

“Do you get bored of drawing this place?” Mike spoke up, his hands in his pockets. It really was chilly, the sun barely warming him up.

Will was an amazing artist; he often used the much leisure time he had to fill his sketchbook with drawings that ranged from physical, concrete objects and scenes to more abstract mediums such as the dreams he had…or the dreams he saw. Whenever they took their group walks outside in the forest around them, Will would always bring his sketchbook to draw it. It intrigued Mike as he lost count of how many times his friend would draw the scene – the repetitive, dull sentiment of the scenery ahead of them, it just being countless numbers of trees.

“No,” Will shook his head, looking up at Mike who stood next to him, “It’s not like it looks the same all year; the trees change as the seasons change.”

They both looked ahead of them when they heard barks of laughter coming from the others. Eleven was levitating a wrist rocket in the air, which belonged to Lucas. The latter tried jumping up to take it back but Eleven kept levitating it higher – a playful glint to her eyes. This was after she kept levitating it to the back of Lucas, moving it around as he turned around as an attempt to look for it. Dustin and Max couldn’t help but to laugh at the futile attempts of Lucas trying to get back the weapon.

“There’s something so captivating about this forest too that I can’t describe…so many good memories that come with it,” Will continued, a smile forming on his face.

For the majority of their lives, they lived a life of ultimate constraint, being trapped in tiny rooms or cages and blindly following the orders of the Bad Men who abused them if they didn’t do as they said. Now they were free, free to act like regular teenagers of their age – laughing, joking around, solidifying their friendships, and furthering their hobbies. This was a place where they could act like themselves; Mike loved the tranquility of it all…just him and his ‘family’ being themselves.

Lucas’ wrist rocket suddenly dropped to the ground.

Within seconds, numerous white vans sped towards them, rocking back and forth on the rocky, uneven ground of the forest.

The other four immediately sped towards Mike and Will, making sure they wouldn’t be run over by the large vehicles. They didn’t have time to react at peculiarity their sudden appearance when they came to an abrupt stop in front of them. The doors of the vans snapped open; men and women in white uniforms came out of the van.

When the six saw the specific types of uniforms that these people wore and the writing in large letters on the side of the van – HAWKINS POWER AND LIGHT – that was when they immediately recognized who those people were and what they were here for.

Eleven’s eyes widened; she felt herself taking a few steps back when she saw a familiar man with white hair situate himself in front of the other men and women.

These were the Bad Men.

For a split second, Mike thought the nightmare he had wasn’t over, but he was wrong. This was really happening.

The Bad Men actually found them.

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The powers that the rest of them have will be probably be revealed next chapter – since that’s when they’ll really start having to use them. Also, none of their powers involve flying/wings as originally seen in Maximum Ride, this is just based off of the premise of that book…with lots of elements of ST mixed in. 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this so far; I’d love some feedback on this story!


	2. Chapter 2

The fear that encapsulated the eyes of the six immediately changed to resolve. Eleven kept her eyes glued onto the tall man with white hair and a dark suit, her own fear changing into anger. He was Dr. Brenner, the lead scientist in charge of Hawkins Lab, the one who was mainly responsible for all the horrific abuse they endured during their time there.

He stared them all down, particularly at Eleven. He hadn’t changed a bit since the day of their escape, he had a surprisingly calm demeanor but his eyes spoke a completely different story. It was clear he was here to get what he wanted and he wasn’t going to leave without it.

“Get them,” Brenner muttered, loud enough for his subordinates to hear.

That was when they did what they were trained by Hopper to do – to fight back. If there was even a perceived threat, they were to defend themselves at all costs. One miscalculation could cost them their lives.  

Before one of the Bad Men could snatch either one of the six, he yelled when he felt his arm dislocate as he heard an uncomfortable cracking noise. With a forward swipe of her arm, Eleven sent the same man flying backwards, his body colliding with a tree.  

“Max! Behind you!” Lucas shouted, his wrist rocket in hand.

Max whirled around, seeing another one of them attempt to grab the hood of her coat. She immediately ducked downwards and seemingly vanished. Within a second, she suddenly reappeared behind Lucas who had flung a large rock towards that same man with his wrist rocket. The man tripped backwards from the firm impact.

Lucas quickly glanced at Mike who was preoccupied with two other Bad Men. Mike slammed his elbow against the chest of one, instantly causing him to black out. The other one immediately pulled an electric-prod that was previously holstered behind his back. He pressed a button on it, causing static shock to emit inches away from Mike’s face. Mike effortlessly pulled the electric prod out of man’s hold and broke the stick in two with his own hands.

The dark-haired boy suddenly felt his head recoil sideways; he fell forwards, feeling blood pool on the side of his mouth. He looked upwards and saw one of the Bad Men had punched him with a bulky metal glove. Before the man could stomp on the fallen Mike, the man immediately fell on his side. Max stood behind his sprawled out body, a large wooden bat in her hand that she had stolen from one of the Bad Men.   

She extended a hand in which Mike grabbed so he could get his foothold back.

“Are you okay-”

Before Max could finish her sentence, the two saw Will screaming for help. He tried writhing his way out of the tight hold that one of the Bad Men had held him in, his arm wrapped around his chest. There were way too many of these men...too many of them to hesitate and judiciously think about their next plan of action.

Mike’s brown eyes widened. There was no way they could take him, not on his watch. When he was about to run towards them, he saw a heavy tree branch spin as it zoomed towards the man who held onto Will.

Eleven.

It hit the man square in the face, causing him to loosen his hold on the boy. Will pried the man’s arms off of him before Mike ran towards Will. Mike protectively pulled the younger towards him. That was when they had the time to take in the complete disaster they were currently in.

There were dozens upon dozens of these Bad Men surrounding them in which even they had trouble holding off. The six were easily stronger than the individual Bad Men but the sheer amount of them that Brenner brought with him was overwhelming. They could see Eleven and Max trying their hardest to fend them off, but even Eleven was getting tired as she was over-expending her powers, blood coming out of her nose. Max had her power of speediness and teleportation on her side, but she could only hit one at a time with the large bat in her possession.

Next to Mike, Will gasped when he saw what looked like to be a Bad Man with an electric prod. What surprised him was that he was prodding other Bad Men with the stick, their bodies jolting and instantly falling on the ground from the electric shock. When Mike was about to instinctively fend himself and Will from that one “Bad Man”, the “Bad Man” morphed into Dustin. That was Dustin’s power – the ability to morph into different objects and people. He was even able to trick his friends with it sometimes.

“There’s way too many of them!” Dustin exclaimed.

That was when the Bad Men suddenly ceased their attempts to catch either of them, taking aback Mike, Dustin, Eleven, Max, and Will. The five glanced confusingly at the Bad Men who were seemingly backing away from something.

The Bad Men could feel the ground below them rumble as if an earthquake was coming on. Before they could say anything, they saw that the ground below them was giving way. They yelled as the terrain formed a hole, it caving in. They immediately backed away to prevent themselves from falling in as the hole became bigger and bigger-

“It’s an illusion, one of them is tricking us!” One of them said, but the other Bad Men were unable to hear him as they were too panicked over the gaping hole they were seeing.

The five teenagers looked back and saw Lucas hidden behind a tree his eyes closed – he looked deep in concentration.

“Come on!” Mike shouted, realizing that this was an opportunity they could use to escape. Lucas had tricked the Bad Men into seeing whatever they just saw. That was his power, the ability to trick peoples’ minds into seeing things that weren’t really there or creating illusions.

Before the six could make a run for it, anywhere out of sight from the Bad Men, they heard a blood-curdling high-pitched noise. They immediately fell to their knees, unable to move. As a result, Lucas’ illusion ceased. It was then that they couldn’t hear a thing other than that noise. It sounded like the severe incessant ringing of the ears, tinnitus multiplied a hundred times.

Mike grimaced as he covered his ears – that didn’t help. He could barely keep his eyes open as he saw the others on the ground, pained yells and cries from the ringing noise.

“Mike! Mike!”

He could hear Eleven scream.

He turned his head, his eyebrows furrowed and hands loosely on his ears.

He could see two of the Bad Men grab onto Eleven, their hands on either of her arms.

_They were taking her!_

“El!” He shouted; he tried to move, but he could barely make a step forward. He looked up and saw Brenner, holding a device he obtained from one of the vans in his grip. His thumb was pressed against a button on the device.

Whatever he was holding onto was creating that sound; he and the other Bad Men were seemingly unaffected by it as they were still on their feet and moving. Mike cried out as he felt blood pool out of his ears, the noise not ceasing. He could see the others in the same state as he, blood emerging from their ears.

“M-Mike!” He could hear Eleven shout again, she lay limp against their hold. She too was unable to move or use any of her powers. She tried shouting over the ringing noise, “Let go of me! Let go of me!”

She was terrified. She didn’t want to go back to that place. She felt tears gather in her eyes as the horrific memories she experienced in Hawkins lab sprung to her mind. The countless experiments they did on her, the physical and emotional abuse that she endured, the small and dark solitary confinement room they locked her in if she disobeyed their orders…all of it flashed through her mind within seconds.

Mike barely breathed when he saw Brenner walk towards him, his thumb still pressed on the device button.

“It’s been a long time, hasn’t it?” He spoke up, his voice light with a frightening edge to it.

Mike grunted in agony, the noise still unbearable. What he would do to beat the shit out of this monster.

“I’ll admit you guys did a good job hiding away from us.”

When Mike was about to let out all the fury he could towards this man, Brenner brought his leather clad shoe up and kicked the boy on the side of the head, instantly knocking him out.  


\---------  


“…Come on, Mike! Wake up!”

He could feel somebody trying to shake him awake.

“Holy shit, I think they fucking killed him- these bastards, I swear to god if I ever-”

“He’s not dead, you idiot! He’s still breathing!”

Mike squinted his eyes, seeing three blurred heads above him. He blinked several times to clear his eyesight. He saw Will, Dustin, and Lucas leaning over him as he laid sprawled on the ground. He frowned, feeling a rather unpleasant headache come on.

When Will saw that Mike had opened his eyes, he ceased shaking him awake. Mike immediately came to his senses when he realized what just happened moments ago…or before he passed out. He jerked upwards and frantically looked around. Will restrained him from completely standing up as he was still recovering from the blunt trauma to his head. Mike saw that there were no signs of Bad Men or even the giant vans that they drove. They were all gone. It was just them and the numerous trees surrounding the bare forest they were in. Then it clicked.

There was only five of them.

“Eleven…” He suddenly said, “Where’s Eleven?”

A pause.

“T-They took her.”

He heard Max speak from above. She stood a few feet from everyone else, her voice in complete despair. Mike looked downwards, grief overtaking him. The “scarier alternative reality” of his nightmare had come true…one of them was actually taken.

“How long was I out for?” He said, trying to not let anger overcome him.

“Just a few minutes,” Dustin replied.

“We can catch up to her then, they couldn’t have gotten too far,” Mike replied, he looked at Max, “Are you up for it?”

Mike knew that Max’s speed would enable them to catch up to the vehicles.

“I am, but are you?” She asked, noting the current condition Mike was in. They were all bloodied and bruised to a degree, some worse than the others, but Mike was knocked out for some time.

“Yes,” He nodded his head, ignoring his headache. Will looked at him worriedly as he stood up.   


\--------  


That was the first time they willingly separated from each other since they first lived within the forest. It was an emergency – or so Mike had said.

Mike made sure to keep his footing aligned with Max’s as she tried to run beside him, her fast speed making it difficult for him to keep up. She purposely ran with a slower stride so Mike could keep up with her, but they both knew catching up to Brenner and the others would be futile if they kept at this pace.

“Mike, get on my back!” She exclaimed, pulling him to a stop.

“What??”

“Just do it!”

For a brief second, Mike wondered if the girl could actually carry him but he didn’t hesitate any longer. They didn’t have a second to waste. Mike let Max hoist him up behind her in which she didn’t have much trouble doing. Mike’s thin stature made it rather easy for her.

Max sped up, the trees next to them being a blur. Mike held kept a firm hold on her shoulders, making sure not to fall off. She was going incredibly fast, faster then she’d ran in ages. She kept her arms fastened around Mike’s legs, being careful not to lose hold of him. They remained in the forest clearing as that was the only place the bulky vans were able to drive through in the forest.

“There!” Mike shouted, pointing ahead of him.

They both saw moving specks of white in the distance.

Those were the vehicles. _They still had a chance!_

Mike habitually clutched onto Max tighter, knowing she was about to go faster. He could feel himself getting nauseous at the lightning speed they were going in, but ignored the uncomfortable sensation.

Mike pointed to the exact vehicle that Eleven was in, his enhanced auditory perception making him able to hear the voice of Brenner speaking from inside it. When they were several feet away from that particular van, Mike motioned for Max to drop him. The redhead abided, coming to stop before Mike got off of her. They sped towards the vehicle, adrenaline flowing through their frantic heartbeats.

Mike reached the backdoor of that van, trying to keep his steps synchronized with the speed of the vehicle. He immediately grabbed onto the door handle and pulled on it. It snapped open. With more effort, he completely pulled the door from the van and threw it aside, the broken door slamming into and cracking the windshield of another van behind him.

“Mike!”

Eleven.

“Eleven!” Mike yelled back.

She was seated in one of the passenger seats and was very much restrained by the Bad Men. She kicked and yelled, trying to free herself once again. Her movements became more frantic when she saw one of the men take a syringe from a woman in a lab coat who was seated in front of them.

“No!” She screamed, trying to pull her wrist away and use her powers – but she couldn’t.

The man immediately embedded the syringe in Eleven’s restrained wrist. With that, Eleven’s movements ceased, her head sloping down and her body becoming limp.

When Mike managed to get inside from the back, he suddenly came to a stop when he saw that the barrel of a gun was inches away from his forehead.

He saw Dr. Brenner next to the passed out Eleven, a revolver in hand.

“You have five seconds to get out before I press the trigger,” He said, his voice solid.

Mike’s breathes were shaky as he stared Brenner down. The car was still moving, albeit at a slower speed than before.

Brenner was unwavering; his finger on the trigger. He was going to do it. He was going to kill him if he didn’t listen. He would never see his friends again and here was no way he’d be able to rescue Eleven if he died.

Mike did the unthinkable and stepped out of the vehicle, the sudden change in speed causing him to tumble on the ground. When he stopped himself, he saw Max also come to a stop as he lay on the ground. She immediately pulled him out of the way as the vans zoomed past them.

They both watched the vehicles drive out of their sight.

It was then they knew Eleven was officially now in their possession.

They had to do whatever it took to get her back; there was no way they could lose a single one of each other after what happened to Hopper. It would break Mike if any of his friends- family were gone forever.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo! 2nd chapter is officially done!
> 
> I'm going to summarize each of their powers here:
> 
> Mike: Super-strength, energy-manipulation, enhanced auditory perception (hearing)  
> Lucas: The ability to induce mental hallucinations/illusions upon multiple people   
> Max: Enhanced speed and Invisibility   
> Dustin: The ability to shape-shift into objects, other people, and animals (Therianthropy)   
> Eleven: Various psychokinetic abilities (she only knows telekinesis and eavesdropping/locating people using the Void, as of now)  
> Will: True-sight (There’s going to be a lot to uncover about his powers in later chapters too, I can’t wait to see where I’m going to go with this)


	3. Chapter 3

There was complete silence between the five when they made their way back home after Mike had relayed the devastating news about him and Max not being able to rescue Eleven. He felt like a huge pit formed in his stomach; he could feel his headache worsening – probably due to the stress of them just losing Eleven. His frown deepened and his tireless guilt worsened when he saw the empty chair the second youngest had sat down in during breakfast. Her plate was still there, decorated with the remaining crumbs of the Eggo waffles she ate.

He was angry at himself for miscalculating and letting the Bad Men snatch her away so easily.

“We should have all went after that van!” Lucas suddenly said, breaking the silence, “Isn’t- Isn’t that what you said, Mike? That we should all stick together no matter what?”

He was seated at the kitchen table, across from the normally expressive Dustin who had kept a grave silence. Max retreated into an isolated corner as she watched Will reach for something in the cabinets above them.  

Mike opened his mouth, but no words came out. He was too stricken by what just happened to speak.

“None of you would be able to keep up with those vans, so it wouldn’t make a difference,” Max retorted, frustration in her tone, “I literally had to carry Mike so we could chase them.”

“Damn it…what are we going to do now?” Lucas said, fear encapsulating his voice. He absently looked at Mike, waiting for him to say something...anything. He was the oldest; he was usually the one who initiated whatever game plan they had in store. There was a sense of reliability they had on him; he couldn’t afford to break under the gravity of this situation.  

It was silent for another minute or so. It was when they pondered the pressing question about all of this. Why was Eleven the only one to be taken? Why didn’t they take all of them? They were all important assets to Hawkins Lab; they all possessed unique and powerful abilities that were vital for the lab to test on.

Will had taken a first aid kid that was hidden behind all the clutter in the particular cabinet he reached into. He quietly tended to the cuts and bruises that covered Dustin’s face after the latter had asked if Will could do so. The youngest was naturally skilled at nursing such injuries.  

“Do any of you know where the map is? The one that actually has the lab in it?” Mike suddenly asked, referring to one of the maps of Hawkins they had in their possession.

“Hold on a second, I think I do,” Dustin said; he shot up from his chair – interrupting Will’s attending to him. He went into a closet adjacent from them, sorting away through the clutter and trash. They really had to clean up this cabin; Hopper constantly nagged them to do so when he was here. Ever since his ‘permanent departure’, the house had slowly dwindled into a disorganized state. Mike reminded himself that they would do that if- once they brought back Eleven.

A sudden pang formed in his stomach; they were going to get her back. Thinking otherwise terrified him.

“Here it is!” Dustin pulled up a large, curled up poster. Will and Lucas removed the plates from the table before Dustin unfurled the poster and laid the map out fully on the table. They kept the map from folding back on itself by setting cups on the corners of it.

The five surrounded the table, peering over it. The map had every vicinity of Hawkins printed on to it, every street, neighborhood, store, restaurant, etc.

“Isn’t that building the lab, the one that Hopper marked?” Will spoke up; he pointed towards an X shaped building that was drawn in sharpie, it not originally being in the map – Hawkins Lab wasn’t completely a secret, but its location wasn’t disclosed to the general public for obvious reasons. Hopper drew it on, to show them just how far away the lab was from the house they resided in. _The Bad Men aren’t going to find you guys, not way the hell out here._ His words echoed in their mind.

“Yes,” Dustin replied, “We know for sure that’s where they took her.”

“Why didn’t they take all of us?” Lucas asked him, “They easily could have done that.”

The burning question.

“I have no idea,” Dustin said, “They literally left us unable to move with that ringing-noise device- whatever the hell it’s called; it would’ve been easy for them to, at that point.”

Moments before Mike’s futile attempt to rescue Eleven, Brenner had a gun pointed to his head. It was then Mike realized they- or at least Brenner didn’t care if he or maybe even the others were dead. Why was it important for them to only have Eleven alive? Eleven was of much interest to the Lab as she was tested at a frequent rate compared to the others because of the two very dissimilar skillsets she possessed. But was it such a big deal that she had to be the only one taken?

“What if we told on them? Like we tell any form of authority the abuse and torture these people put us through-”

“No, _no way_ we’re doing that,” Mike interrupted Max, “That might shut down the lab and we might get Eleven back, but we’d still all end up at some sort of institution to be tested on.”

“Like the nuthouse in Kerley County,” Lucas added, “We know how badly they treat their patients.”

“How do you know that??” The girl continued, staring Mike down. Even though they’ve known each other for as long as they could remember, this girl still had a way of taking them aback with her sometimes intimidating demeanor.

Mike paused; the others looked at him – waiting for an answer.

“…I just know,” He said, his voice lower. Max almost rolled her eyes in response. She often disliked his ‘my way or the highway’ mantra he subconsciously adopted as the designated leader, but she didn’t want to protest anymore and start a fight. What they were supposed to be focused on right now was finding a way to save Eleven.

“How are we going to get all the way there?” Dustin asked, examining the scale of the map, “The lab is miles away from here.”

It was silent for a moment. They all knew that walking was unfeasible; it would take them at least a week to reach the lab on foot. The amount of the horrific things they would have done to Eleven would have been copious if they took that long.

“The SUV.”

They all looked at Max.

“None of us have driven it before.”

“Then we learn how to,” Max replied to Dustin, “It doesn’t look hard, I’ve seen people drive all the time on T.V…all you do is put in a set of keys, pull a lever and then you pull another lever-”

“A gear shift?” Will spoke up.

“Yeah and the other one…I think it’s called the parking brake,” Max replied, a lull in her voice.

The three suddenly went into a tangent about the basics of vehicles and what buttons or gears or sticks did what exactly.

Mike pursed his lips, his irritation present. The utter cluelessness they had was enough to send him to hysterics; they didn’t have time to mull over anything…especially the parts of a car. To be fair, he had no idea either as that was one of the few essentials Hopper didn’t teach them.

The car hey were specifically referring to was the Hawkins Police Chevy Blazer that Hopper seemingly left in their possession. It hadn’t been used since he left; it stood beside the cabin – tree leaves and cobwebs covering and surrounding the stationary vehicle.

“So? What are we doing? Are we going to drive there or not?” Lucas spoke up, trying to bring them back to focus.

“We have no other choice,” Max replied.

They proceeded to plan out the appropriate routes to take – ones that would take them to the lab in the quickest fashion. They were familiar with the tight security that protected Hawkins Lab from outsiders breaking in and test subjects from breaking out as they witnessed it firsthand during their escape. Not only did they need to conjure up a plan that was time-friendly, they also had to make their entrance unknown. If they were caught, they’d either be locked up like they were before…or killed.

After Will had quickly treated Max’s and Lucas’ injuries, the two decided they were going to look for the keys to the SUV, hopeful that Hopper still left them somewhere, anywhere within the house.  Mike remained seated at the kitchen, absently watching Will finish tending to Dustin’s bruises and cuts. To his surprise, Will seemed to be the only one who had kept a sense of calm. However, his deep-set hazel eyes told a different story. They radiated the anxiety that everyone else had. The only difference was that Will was trying to hide his trepidation – as he always did.

When the youngest finished with Dustin, the curly-haired blonde decided he would go help Max and Lucas find the keys, leaving Mike and Will alone in the kitchen. When Will caught Mike’s eyes staring at him, he took notice of the various bruises and cuts that covered Mike’s face, his condition worse than Dustin’s.

“You’re next, Mike,” Will said, trying to keep a light-hearted mood. He scooted his chair towards where Mike was siting, first-aid kit in his lap.

“I-It’s okay Will, you don’t have to worry about-”

“Just let me, your cuts will get infected if I don’t,” He retorted, Mike was too obstinate for his own good sometimes.

Mike couldn’t protest, not at the face in front of him.

“Okay, just don’t add too much of the alcohol,” Mike finally gave in. He twitched when he felt a stinging sensation on his cheek, “Will, I said not too much.”

“Then it won’t heal,” Will said, earning a defiant roll-of-the-eyes from Mike. He fished out a couple of Band-Aids from the kit, “Just don’t move too much and I’ll be done before you know it.”

When Will fit a band aid on the side of Mike’s cheek, he felt a twisting sensation in his heart, seeing the uneasiness in his friend’s face. He knew Mike would never let go of the culpability he felt by letting Brenner get a hold of Eleven so easily. The minute they escaped, they all vowed that they would never let themselves or each other be in Brenner’s possession ever again.   

“We’ll find her,” Will spoke again – as if he could read his mind.

“I know…it’s- it’s just…what if they know we’re coming?” Mike replied, his voice shaky, “What if they’re several steps ahead of us?”

He tried his hardest to keep at least a moderately positive outlook on this, but the aggressive pessimism he felt wouldn’t falter. In fact, it was quickly increasing as the time came closer for them to leave.

“We were several steps ahead of them when we escaped,” Will reassured him, “We can easily beat them at their own game again – we’ll find a way, for sure.”

Mike felt the corners of his lips tug into a smile. Although he could see the fear in Will’s eyes, he was incredibly thankful for the emotional comfort that the latter was providing him. He felt a pang of remorse at the fact that he couldn’t do the same for his friend. By the time Will had strapped a bigger bandage around his upper arm, which had been brutally scraped from the hard fall he took from the van, his face had been taken care of – the scars disinfected and several Band-Aids covering them.

“You’re amazing Will, you know that?”

Will modestly shrugged, not thinking what he just did was all that remarkable. That was when Mike reached over to Will and ruffled his hair.

“Mike, stop!” Will giggled, pushing his arm away. He straightened his uneven hair back into its neat bowl cut. He was clearly flustered.

When Mike wasn’t looking, the brown-haired boy stood up and teasingly tousled his friend’s hair back, the edges of his wavy dark hair sticking out all over the place. Will couldn’t help but to let out a few bouts of laughter, pride at finally getting his friend back. Mike gave Will a quick ‘oh so this is how you want to do things?’ expression before he extended both his arms to tickle the shorter boy. Before he could, a loud voice interrupted him.

“Hey you lovebirds, we found the keys!”

The two turned around, alarmed from the sudden appearance of the other three, their brief bout of happiness being broken and being brought back to reality. Dustin was in front of Lucas and Max, dangling a keychain with several keys attached it – one of them being car keys to the Chevy Blazer.

“Shut up, Dustin,” Mike mumbled; he sworn he could have felt his cheeks heat up.

“Who’s going to drive it?” Will asked in a clearer voice, trying his hardest to brush off what Dustin said.

Lucas, Dustin, and Max looked at each other, silent. While on their mini venture to look for the keys, they hadn’t thought about that. Dustin looked at Lucas, silently telling the older to volunteer but he nudged Dustin on the side of the arm – silently telling him he wasn’t going to do such a thing. When Mike was about to undertake the task of driving, and reluctantly so, he was interrupted.

“I will,” Max spoke up.

“Really?”

“Yeah,” She nodded, “Since no else wants to.”

With that, the five began to stock on supplies and money; Max attempted to reassure the apprehensive mood of the others by once again insisting that driving wasn’t as difficult as it looked. It was only a quick ten minutes that everyone managed to get everything together.

“Are you guys ready?” Mike heard Lucas say to the others. He put on his signature camouflage bandanna, wrist rocket fastened behind his back. On his right hand, he loosely held onto binoculars. Beside him, Dustin carried a bag stockpiled with snacks, canned food, and water.

“Ready as can be,” Dustin said, “What about you, Max?”

She nodded, gripping the car keys tight.

“Let’s do this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHHH 
> 
> Next chapter is when stuff starts to go down. It’s going to be much longer than this one; I promise. I hope you all liked this one as it shows more than a glimpse between the six’s interactions. 
> 
> Please leave comments if you can, I really wanna know how I did on this one…also, thanks to those who commented! I really appreciate it.
> 
> P.S: I’m having major writer’s block on my District H fic, so that one might be on hold for a while. I have the opposite problem with this fic so I’ll be updating frequently.


	4. Chapter 4

_CRASH!_

Support from the side of the cabin gave way, part of the wooden construction scattering on the ground.

“You just backed into the house!” Lucas shouted.

Max frantically looked at the gear shift, realizing she had it on R or “Reverse”. The five made it into the Hopper’s Chevy after double-checking if they had all the supplies they needed. Max sat in the driver’s seat, her hands gripped so tight on the wheel that her already pale knuckles were turning white. Mike sat beside her in the front passenger seat while Dustin, Lucas, and Will were squashed in the cramped space of the backseats. In a rather panicked fashion, Max suddenly pushed the gear shift upwards to ‘D’ causing the vehicle to careen forwards.

“Holy fuck, we’re going to die!” Dustin yelled.

Dustin yelled and Lucas shrieked as they saw themselves zooming towards the trees ahead of them. Beside them, Will kept his eyes squeezed shut – hoping to god they wouldn’t crash into the trees and have one or more of them barrel in through the windshield, killing them all.

“Max, why aren’t you stopping the car?!” Lucas exclaimed, seeing the trees get closer and closer to them. They were going to crash headfirst any minute, if they didn’t stop.

 “You’re supposed to step on the brake!” Mike shouted beside her.

“GUYS! SHUT UP!” Max yelled, trying to drown out the loud voices of the boys, “I’m trying to focus!”

Max slammed her foot against a short paddle that rest beside her feet, causing them to go even faster. She could hear Lucas’ and Dustin’s panicked screams get louder. That was when she saw a larger paddle next to it, she immediately pressed on it in desperation – anything to stop this car.

All of their bodies jerked forward as the car came to an abrupt stop.

Max slowly slipped her shaking hands off of the wheel, her eyes wide as she tried to recollect what just happened. From the rearview mirror she could see the others trying to get a hold of themselves, stricken from the near-death experience they just had. It was then she knew her driving was horrendous and that she would need a lot more practice to fully master it. Unfortunately, she knew they didn’t have any time for that.

She took a hurried glance at all the basic controls – the brake, the accelerator, the gear shift, and parking brake. If she wanted to get the hang of this, she would have to know how each of them worked by heart.

“Okay…so the big paddle slows down the car while the small one makes it go faster,” Max said, her foot still on the brake.

“You finally figured it out, genius,” Mike sarcastically replied, his heart still racing.

“Yeah, I did!” Max exasperatingly replied, not appreciating the tone in his voice, “Let’s see you try to do better.”

“I bet I can-”

“…Please don’t fight guys,” They could hear Will from the back, his voice weak from the adrenaline. He had his hand on his chest. They hadn’t driven inside a car since Hopper had brought them to live within the cabin for the first time so he knew being inside a vehicle was a fairly uncharted territory, but he didn’t think his second experience inside one would be this scary. All in all, Max and Mike bickering wasn’t helping his naturally anxious psyche or the current situation they were in.

“Sorry, Will,” Mike apologized while Max remained silent.

“Let’s try again, now that you sort of have the hang of it,” Dustin spoke up, trying to neutralize the situation, “We don’t have much time; we have to get to Eleven as soon as possible.”

“Okay, okay,” Max nodded, her voice calmer, she gripped the wheel again, “…I got this.”

She slowly removed her foot from the brake, moving the car at a slow pace. That was when she carefully turned towards the clear path.  


\--------  


The route they decided to take kept them within the secluded confines of Hawkins which was convenient enough for the five. They didn’t want any possible attention on them – a 15 year old girl driving a giant cop car with three other 15 year olds and 14 year old in the passenger seats was enough to bring any unwanted attention. 

To Mike’s surprise, Max wasn’t doing too badly. She had the general idea of when and where to press the brake paddle or the accelerator paddle. However, her turns were still jerky and uncoordinated. In the process of all this, Will had gotten a bout of carsickness, forcing Max to slide open the window doors. The cold breeze was harsh as they kept a moderate speed, but it was either that or Will possibly throwing up all over the backseats.

“So you don’t think they’ll be able to see through it this time?” Lucas spoke over the gusts of wind that blew past them. He referred to the illusion he cast on the Bad Men, sending them into hysterics as they saw the ground that caved in under them.

“No way, I don’t think so, this time at least. Only of one them…and probably Brenner did back there,” Dustin replied, “Couldn’t you turn the car into one of those ‘Hawkins Power and Light’ vans that they have, or create the illusion of this car looking like those vans?”

“You know I can’t transform objects,” Lucas retorted, “I can only make stuff appear out of thin air.”

“Right, of course,” Dustin sighed, leaning back into the passenger seat.

Mike glanced at the digital clock at the center of the car, knowing that the time was set an hour off from the actual time. The car hadn’t been touched since Hopper disappeared so the clock’s time remained unchanged since the last daylight savings time. However, he could see that a good 30 minutes had passed since they left their home. They estimated that it would take at least another two hours before they reached the lab.

The directions had them exit the forest road and onto a main road.

“Hey, Mike?” Max spoke up, her eyes still on the road in front of her. With all that was on her mind today, she felt like she needed to get this particular piece of information out. For some reason, she didn’t think she’d be able to do so later.

“What?” He glanced at her.

“When we were looking for the keys, we went into the small underground bunker,” She continued, “Y’know…the one where Hopper has a bunch of his old files.”

“The one he kept hidden?” Mike asked, quickly catching on to what Max was talking about. A couple of months after Hopper disappeared, Eleven accidently discovered the small basement-like room after she pushed aside a couch. An unusual crack she saw on the wooden floor previously hidden by the couch prompted her to examine it with much interest in which she did by accidently prying it open. That revealed a hole which led into the bunker.

“Yeah,” The red-head nodded, “I found a box with my full first name on it, hidden way at the back. Then I looked at the files in that box and there was a paper with other names and their relationships to me-”

Dustin and Lucas looked at each other, knowing what she was about to say while Will and Mike had their full attention on her, waiting for Max to get to the point.

“-then I saw a location, Old Cherry Road, and then a specific address. Right before we left, I was able to locate it on the map Dustin brought out. What I’m trying to say is that none of us know who are parents are, right?”

“We don’t,” Mike plainly said. None of the six had a clue about where they came from exactly – the only information they knew of themselves were their first names. It was a topic most of them claimed they didn’t want to press further on as it brought back horrible memories of Hawkins Lab stripping away their identity by treating them as inhuman test subjects. They decided they’d put that in the past and live in the present – attempting to dispose aside horrid reminiscences. However, Max’s curiosity was piqued when she discovered those files.

“Well, I’ve been thinking about those names and I’ve been wondering if those were my actual parents – and if I was taken away from them or if they gave me up-”

“Max, you’re veering off the road!”

Dustin’s voice snapped her out of it. Her blue eyes widened, seeing that the side of the vehicle was driving on the grassy area beside the road. She immediately swerved back on the road. She almost cursed herself, her talkative nature sometimes got the best of her.

He looked at Max, desperation fiercely radiating off her as she stared ahead. Out of the six, she was the one who spontaneously brought up hypotheticals of them living like regular people her age. She loved the freedom of living with the five people she cherished the most, out of the confines of adults who would boss her around. But she often pondered what it would be like to live in a regular home with a mom and dad…siblings she could fight with, not living a life where she’d have to keep hidden from the Bad Men who wanted to conduct sickening experiments on her.

“We have to focus on finding Eleven…we can talk about this later.”

That was all Mike could bring himself to say.

“R-right,” Max mumbled, disappointed in Mike’s flippant answer. She didn’t want to press further either as he made a point.   
  


\--------  


_Cold._

_It’s so Cold._

Her entire body felt like ice.

Eleven forced her eyes open, her eyesight blurry. She felt herself curl up as she shivered. The sudden aching of her entire body didn’t help the extreme discomfort she felt. She blinked several times.

The first thing she noticed was that she was changed out of her acid-washed jeans and coat to what looked like a hospital gown, a white hospital gown with blue flecks. That outfit was all too familiar.

She was definitely back in Hawkins Lab.

Eleven grunted she stood up, ignoring the harsh ache of her back. She was inside a small patient room, previously lying on a hospital stretcher. She looked upwards. The plain white walls, the obnoxious bright lights, and the clinical smells within the room instantaneously activated her fight-or-flight response. But she was too tired and sluggish to move much at all. The throbbing pain all over body and the freezing condition within the room didn’t help; the feeling made her body stiff. She blinked her eyes again, trying to distract herself from the memories that were invading her line of thought.

She stared down the door that stood a few feet away.

She frowned, trying to concentrate her energy into opening it. Eleven bit her lip; the doorknob barely budged. She had no idea what they did to her exactly, but she knew they severely weakened her powers. She grit her teeth, a sudden stretch of anger and frustration emerging.

She widened her eyes when she heard footsteps come towards her room.

They stopped. That was when she could hear muffled voices.

With all her strength, or the strength that she had left in her, Eleven extended her leg off the stretcher-bed. She kept her arms secure on the edge of the stretcher as she slowly slipped off, making sure not to roughly collide with the floor. When she reached the ground her face paled; it felt like she was sitting right on top of a giant ice-cube.

She ignored the uncomfortable sensation as she crawled towards the doorway so she could hear the voices better. She stuck her ear against the door, the voices becoming clear.

“I can’t believe Brenner got his hands on this one!” One of them exclaimed, sheer excitement in their voice, “I thought we lost subject Eleven for good, but Brenner really scoped out Hawkins this time and found them.”

“That’s Dr. Brenner for you, he really is a lifesaver, that guy,” Another one said, in a calmer tone, “There’s a lot of potential in this one, Brenner says it has a lot of unique skills we even haven’t unbridled out of it yet.”

_It._

That’s how they referred to her. Surprisingly, Eleven didn’t even have much fear left inside of her; it was overtaken by anger. She could feel herself curling her fists. The way they referred to and treated her as if she was some sort of inhuman creature disgusted her.

“The many abilities it has…Brenner has been planning to get a sample of its brain so we could study it on a biological level, it’s imperative that we extract its DNA...”

Eleven immediately moved herself away from the door, not wanting to hear any more of those disturbing words. That was when she knew she had to find some way to escape; she wasn’t going to let them do anything like that to her, ever.  

She suddenly flinched when she heard the door unlock and open. She turned around, seeing the same men from outside walk into the room – they wore lab coats.

“You’ll be needed in the sensory deprivation room,” One of them said.

Without hesitation they grabbed her by the arms, forcing her to stand up. Eleven so badly wanted to throw these men against the walls of the small room they were in, but she didn’t have the power to – plus, she was admittedly afraid of what would happen to her if she did so.   
  


\-------  
  


“I think I’m gonna throw up…”

Max briefly looked through the rearview mirror seeing Will doubled over in his seat, his carsickness not subsiding. Dustin kept a comforting hand around Will, offering him water a couple of times – but that didn’t help, neither did keeping the windows open.

“W-what do I do?” Max said; they were still on the road.

“We have to stop,” Mike said; he looked to the back of him, seeing Will in his current state. The hunched over Will had a greenish, pale look to his face. It looked as if he was resisting the urge to vomit, his hand over his mouth.

“Okay,” Max nodded, she saw an opening within the road that they were in – Mirkwood – that led to the forest beside her. She swerved towards it, causing the vehicle to rock back and forth from the sudden change in terrain.

When the car came to a full stop, Will immediately pushed the car door open and jumped out, falling to his knees. He kept his hand glued to his mouth as he felt a rush of vomit exit his throat. When he was a reasonable distance away from the car, he removed his hand and threw up on the forest floor, his hands shaky besides him. Will squirmed, feeling another bout of vomit emerge from his stomach. His breathing trembled as he tried catching his breath.

But he didn’t have enough time to as he threw up once again, not noticing Mike and the others had hopped out of the parked car.

He felt Mike firmly pat his back as he coughed, the nauseous feeling not going away.

Will pressed his eyes shut, sweat gathering on his forehead.

He vomited for a third time, his coughing becoming more aggressive.   

“What’s wrong with him??” He could hear Lucas’ worried voice from above. He didn’t think basic carsickness would make someone throw up so much – it was really strange.

Mike kept his arm around Will’s crouched form as the younger’s coughing wouldn’t subside. The others looked on with downright confusion and concern. Guilt consumed them as they had no idea what to do at this moment, but watch their friend hack and cough as if he was choking on something.

When Will’s coughing calmed down, he shuddered as finally was able to catch his breath. He firmly clutched Mike’s hand while the dark-haired boy comfortably kept his hold on him. Will was scared, he had never been like this his entire life.

“Are you okay, Will?” Dustin asked.

“N-no,” He shook his head, unable to speak clearly. He didn’t feel like throwing up anymore, but he felt twice as worse since he hopped out of the Chevy.

“There’s a pharmacy not too far off from here!” Lucas spoke up, his body half situated in the front passenger seat of the car. He had took a quick look at the map that Mike left on his seat before he came out of the car, running back to the others.

“I’ll go then,” Mike spoke up, still crouched down with Will.

“No,” Will shook his head, mustering his strength to speak up, “Yo-you can’t leave, it’s not safe. I can just walk it off-”

Will coughed a few more times as he kept in his crouched position. Mike looked worryingly at his friend as the younger tried suppressing another coughing fit; he did rubbing motions on Will’s back to calm the trembling boy.

“You look like you’re about to pass out, Will,” Mike nervously said, “W-What if you get worse?”

Will frowned, still unreceptive to the idea of Mike leaving by himself to an unfamiliar place.    

“But, we can’t-”

“I know, I know,” Mike interrupted, knowing what Dustin was going to say, “But Will can barely move and he’ll get worse if we take the car – you guys have to watch him.”

Dustin and Lucas reluctantly agreed while Max crossed her arms, frustration lingering at Mike’s sometimes domineering personality.

“It’s probably like a ten minute walk but you have to make it quick, Mike,” Lucas said, his characteristic apprehension persistent. Back home, trips to stores to get supplies and food were a rare occurrence but every time those trips came with much anxiety – worry over whether people would find something suspicious about their presence even though they looked like ordinary teenagers.  

“Don’t worry, I’ll be back really soon,” He said, before standing up, “Just stay here, out of sight.”

After Lucas explained the route from the area within the forest that they were in to the Pharmacy, Mike had left the three.   


\-----------  
  


Lucas managed to get Will in the backseat of the car, doors open to let the fresh, cold air in. The smaller boy comfortably lay down on the backseats, taking in deep breathes.

 _Deep breaths._ _In-and-Out._

…as Hopper used to say – a breathing exercise that the cop taught him whenever he was feeling uneasy. He felt a little bit better since Mike left, but the nausea persisted. All he wanted was for Mike to come back as soon as possible; he’d probably get better quick without the anxiety of Mike being gone.

“I’m so hungry right now,” Max spoke up, sitting on the edge of the driver’s seat, her feet dangling outside of the car. Her stomach had been rumbling for a while now – the persistent feeling becoming more uncomfortable by the second.

“There’s plenty of snacks in the trunk of the car!” Dustin said from outside, he was aimlessly pacing while he watched Lucas shoot at nothing in particular with his wrist rocket.   

Max saw Will sit up and reach behind the backseat. He pulled out numerous food items such as canned black bean soup, canned chicken noodle soup, Dorito’s chips, chocolate pudding cups, and a bag of beef jerky. Will frowned, the selection of food making him feel queasy.

“I guess this will have to do, for now,” Max sighed, taking the can of chicken noodle soup. What she would do to have a real, hearty meal.

Max popped the can open. She reluctantly took a sip of the cold liquid before wiping her mouth. That was when she pulled face of disgust, trying her best to ingest the freezing cold soup.

“That’s so gross,” Will grimaced, sitting back in his seat.

Max ignored Will’s disgusted expression, before taking in another, larger sip.

“It’s the closest thing we have to real food,” Max shrugged, “Aren’t you hungry? You probably should get something in since you vomited…all of that.”

She motioned her head towards the pool of vomit that lay several feet away from the car.

“Not really, no,” Will shook his head, he looked ahead of him. He could see Lucas and Dustin outside, but there was still no sign of Mike, “He should be back by now…it’s been 20 minutes since he left.”

“Of course he has to take his time; sometimes he can be just, so…so…” Max trailed off, struggling to find the right words to say. Her long-standing grudge Mike brought out the frustration she had, “…like his way is the only way that flies.”

Max didn’t dislike Mike; she did love each and every one of them as family. But her outspoken and often brash personality clashed with his unwavering stubbornness.

“He’s trying his best,” Will retorted, his tendency to take Mike’s side came about. When he caught Max rolling her eyes, he spoke again, “I don’t know – if it bugs you so much, why don’t you talk to him about it?”

Max knew how close Will and Mike were, but Will’s propensity to impulsively defend Mike peeved her at times – even when the oldest was being objectively unreasonable. Will was also one of those types who saw the good in all people, but she knew that he’d take it too far and often let others walk all over him. That attitude manifested itself the most when he was around Mike.

“Fine; that’s actually something I need to do,” She admitted, “Just promise you’ll learn not to blindly take his side all the time. You should stand your ground.”

Will hesitated, a surprised look etched on his face. He knew Max was a blunt person, but he didn’t expect her to be so forward with his and Mike’s relationship dynamic.

“O-okay, fine,” Will mumbled, sudden defeat and embarrassment creeping up.   


\----------  


Mike’s shoulders were stiff as he walked towards the cashier, motion-sickness medicine in hand. He looked as if he was about ready to jump out of his skin, him being among complete strangers in the small Pharmacy he was in. He and the others rarely came across other people and Hopper trained them to be skeptical of anyone who wasn’t their “family of six” so his seemingly unreasonable apprehension was actually reasonable for him to feel. He always had to assume that there was someone out to get him, even if the people in the store were all just regular costumers minding their own business.   
  
With much paranoia, the 15 year old looked at his surroundings once more before placing the medicine on the counter in front of him. His train of thought suddenly deviated off to the others; he wondered what they were doing at this very moment. He hoped he wouldn’t be gone for too long; he didn’t want to make the others angry for keeping them waiting – all he had to do was pay for this-

“Is that all for you?”

Mike flinched from the sudden voice, earning a confused look from the cashier.

“Y-yes t-that’s it,” He stuttered. _Come on get it together!_

He fished out the appropriate amount of money from his coat pocket before placing the dollar bills and coins onto the counter. He nervously tapped his foot and kept his hands in his pockets as the cashier scanned the barcode of the packaging.

“Would you like a receipt?” She said, placing the medicine in the bag.

“No- no thanks,” Mike said, he could feel his hands get sweaty. In a rather haste fashion, he took the bag that the cashier laid out for him, “Thank you.”

He quickly strode out of the Pharmacy store, accidently swinging the door open a little too hard. The cashier looked at him bewilderingly as he left.

Mike breathed out, relief washing over him. He thought that interaction could have gone a lot worse.

He looked on both sides of the street ahead of him before making his way towards the forest – the same route he took according to the map. He glanced at his watch, realizing it had been 23 minutes since he left. It was then he took quick strides; he had to get to the others as fast as he could.

When he was halfway there, he suddenly stopped when he heard steps crunching against the leaves. He frowned, the steps becoming louder. It wasn’t too long until he could hear bickering voices.

He immediately hid behind a tree when he saw moving colors appear between the cracks of the trees in front of him. He peered out of the tree, squinting his eyes to get a better look, the colors belonged to jackets that were worn by boys that looked around his age.

There were four of them.

When Mike was about to leave through another route to avoid being seen, he heard one of them speak from afar.

“So you’re just going to rat on us like that?!” He could hear one of them shout, in an angry, roaring voice.

Making sure to stay hidden, Mike inspected them closely. From what he could see, three of them looked like the typical intimidating bully archetype – all muscle and no brains. One of them even had a gun loosely shoved in his coat pocket. The last boy who seemed to be trying to leave was a lot smaller and feeble looking; he had a pleading look to him – as if he wanted the others to leave him alone.

“Troy, I…I can’t take the blame for what he did,” The small boy said, as he was cornered by the other three, “I could get expelled if I do!”

“So? James and I will get questioned if they knew he did that – and then they’ll know that we were a part of it. They’ll definitely expel us two for sure,” The taller boy, Troy, said – anger still in his voice, “You have to take the blame!”

The small boy shook his head. He reminded Mike so much Will, both vulnerable and good-natured.

“N-no.”

“What did you say?” Troy seethed.

“I said no,” His nervous voice more resolute; he wasn’t going to let Troy and his meathead friends push him around anymore, “…You guys helped him to do it so you take responsibility.”

That was when Troy shoved him. The boy cried as his head collided with the rocky terrain of the ground. The larger boy beside Troy kicked the small boy on his side. He shouted out from the jarring pain. The other larger boy proceeded to do the same. Troy joined in by stomping the boy on the stomach, ignoring the yells that came from the latter.

Mike’s eyes widened.

His protective streak came into full-force; he knew he couldn’t leave that boy to get pummeled like that. The fact that he had a resemblance to Will also compelled him to do something about this. He thought it would be wrong of him leave the defenseless boy to get beat up like that  – besides, he knew he would have no problem taking down these mouth-breathers, as their strength paled in comparison to his.

Without a second to spare, Mike stepped out from behind the tree, making his presence visible to them.

“Get off of him.”

The three immediately stopped, all knelt over the smaller boy – bruises already forming on his face. They were clearly disturbed by Mike’s sudden appearance.

“You better mind your own fucking business,” Troy seethed, standing up.

“Or what?” Mike said; he couldn’t mess this up.

“Or I’ll beat the everlasting shit out of you,” Troy threatened, his anger not going away. They stood face to face, Troy’s hand reaching for his pocket…or rather the shotgun he had in his pocket.

Mike felt an arm wrap around his collarbone. He turned back and saw that one of the bullies had snuck behind him. Troy took this as a cue to punch Mike square in the face causing his head recoil sideways. As he was restrained, Mike immediately jumped up and kicked Troy square in the stomach with both his feet. Mike could have sworn he heard a crack come from his ribcage. The bully yelled out, falling on his bottom.

“Get him, James!” Troy roared out; he grimaced as clutched his stomach in utter pain.

Still restrained, Mike forcefully pried apart the bully’s arms off him – practically dislocating the bully’s wrist bones. He swung back and punched him straight in the nose, hearing another crack noise. The bully staggered back covering his nose as blood gushed out from it. Mike shook his hand, the impact of his punch was rather firm. The third bully, ‘James’, ran towards Mike, fury in his face.

_Big Mistake._

Mike grabbed James by the arm and pulled, catapulting the larger guy over him. He let go, causing James to roughly collide with the tree behind him. The throw was so hard that the tall tree became bent from the impact.

That was when he saw the small boy still on the ground, utter shock in his face. Mostly due to the fact that Mike, who was smaller than all of the meatheads around him, managed to singlehandedly take each of them down.

“Run!” Mike shouted.

The boy quickly nodded, his eyes wide and mouth ajar. He proximately got to his feet and sped away, as fast as his feet could take him. Mike looked below him, seeing the three bullies humiliatingly sprawled onto the ground – their faces contorted into pain. James was crying out in agony, unable to feel his back or even move at all. The other bully kneeled on his knees, clutching his nose as blood continued to profusely stream down his fingers.

Mike’s breath hitched when he saw that Troy reached into his pockets. _He was pulling out his gun._

That was his cue to run.

Within a second, the dark-haired boy ran for his dear life. He pushed overlying branches out of the way as he sped through the forest. Although he was quick, he made careful steps, making sure not to trip on any tree roots or fall from grooves that were slightly hidden under the leaves.

Mike’s eyes widened when he could hear running steps, leaves crunching behind him.

_Fuck!_

Those mouth-breathers weren’t going to give up so easily.

Mike picked up his speed, his breathing becoming more labored. What he would do to have Max here with him – he’d be way out of their sight by now.

His foot suddenly got caught on a tall tree root, causing him to trip headfirst on the ground.

“Agh!” He cried, his ankle aching – he definitely pulled it. He could feel a stinging sensation on his cheek as well.  

Mike flinched when he heard a sudden gunshot.

He immediately got on his feet, clenching his teeth as he tried ignoring the biting pain in his ankle. He ran, although at a slower pace. His ankle hurt so much and there was a limp to his run. At this point, he wasn’t even thinking of where he was going exactly – he just had to get out of here, anywhere away from that damned gun.

_Bang!_

Another gunshot.

Mike immediately felt a stabbing pain on his right shoulder. 

His face turned several shades lighter when he looked down and saw that the shoulder of his coat was torn, blood copiously dripping out from his coat sleeve. The realization immediately hit him, they shot him. _They fucking shot him._

Mike didn’t have time to think about what lay ahead of him as he was too preoccupied with his new gun wound. His distraction caused him to trip again, but this time he slipped down something steep. Mike cried out in pain, falling on his side – or rather his right shoulder.

He could feel himself sliding down the ravine at a rather quick pace. He tried to stop himself by grabbing onto something, anything. His right arm felt like it was paralyzed and his other arm was aimlessly trying to reach for anything. He bumped into rocks, bushes, tree stumps, anything that covered the ravine, before he flipped over and landed on a pile of shrubs.

Mike’s breath shuddered, his brown eyes wide. He tried to recollect all what just happened, but he couldn’t.

He was in so, so much pain. His throbbing ankle became worse after tripping on it again, there were newly formed scrapes and cuts on his face, and that damned gun wound. He couldn’t exactly describe the pain, but it was absolute agony – the worst he’s ever felt in his entire 15 years of living, minus the experiments Hawkins Lab conducted on him. His right arm felt like it was about to fall off his shoulder and it he couldn’t move it without wanting to scream.

“Oh…fuck…” He groaned, seeing more blood escape out from his sleeve and onto the shrubs that surrounded him.

He used his left hand to prop himself upwards. He bit his bottom lip, ignoring the sharp pain he felt all over. It was then he realized he had to get back to the others and give Will the medicine so he could get better. They were probably worried sick and wondering where the hell he was at this point.

But he could barely move without his body feeling like it was about to explode from the immense pain he felt.

Even worse, he had no idea where he was.

Mike frantically looked around, realizing that he had fallen into a ravine. He could suddenly feel himself almost regret getting involved with those bullies; it was in his nature though. He had a protective streak and felt the need to protect those who couldn’t fend for themselves. He didn’t realize that quality of himself would get him into the trouble that he was in right now. Now because of him, they were possibly going to have to stall rescuing Eleven.

Then things got worse.

Mike could see sudden droplets of rain cover the dry ground. In a matter of seconds, the rain dropped down harder. Mike was immediately drenched, his shivering form becoming worse. The freezing temperatures were a hassle to deal with, but adding rain to that with numerous injuries and a gun-shot wound made it hell on earth.

At least he couldn’t hear the footsteps of those bullies anymore; they must have given up and left.

He trembled, managing to trudge out of the ravine. His soaked form made it much colder and his severely sprained ankle made it harder to walk through the uneven terrain, but he persisted.

The boy frowned when he could vaguely see lights ahead.  

He trudged further, pushing branches of trees out of the way. It was a house, a small sized one-floor house with a moderate yard-space and a green Ford Pinto parked on the side. Someone was clearly living inside of it.

Clenching his teeth in pain, Mike slowly pulled his right sleeve out of his coat pocket. He was still bleeding, his shoulder was stinging and he felt like hell. The boy bit his lip, conflicting thoughts arising.

It was imperative they had very a limited amount of interaction with people outside their “family”. The more contact they had, the more liable they were to other people figuring out who they really were. They were a government secret and it was kept that way for a good reason.

But he needed help, fast. He could feel himself get lightheaded from his copious blood loss. There was no way he could go to the others in this condition, even if he knew where he was at all. 

He squeezed his eyes shut for a second before felt himself walk towards the house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> …and that’s chapter 4! This one was by far the most interesting to write. I’d also love some feedback on whether the pace of this story is okay or not. I'm hoping I don't drag it out or rush through it by skimping out on important plotlines or character development. 
> 
> Also: Can anyone guess whose house Mike is about to knock on?


	5. Chapter 5

Eleven could feel the hairs behind her back rise up as the Bad Men in lab coats walked beside her. Her hands were restrained behind her back by cuffs of some sort – they dragged her with a chain attached to those cuffs, as if she was an animal. It was a contrast to her walking beside them with her hands free years ago when she had no thoughts of escaping the lab – back when she obeyed every one of their order without question, back when she wasn’t perceived as a threat. She shook her throbbing head, trying to do away with the compounding flashbacks that were entering her mind. However, the familiar hallway she was walking through only heightened them; the strong laboratory odor of chemicals and the scent of disinfectant marred the entire passage. She wanted to cover her nose and close her eyes shut; she hated what this barbaric place was already doing to her.

Eleven recounted a series of tests they had done on her before they made their way into the deprivation tank room – as per request of Brenner. They did a series of tests on her telekinesis, forcing her to throw much heavier objects that were easily twice her size, instead of lighter ones she was so used to. When she failed to do so, they locked her in a pitch dark solitary confinement room that she was always forced in whenever she disobeyed a command or failed to do the task she was assigned to do correctly.

Her entire body ached and her headache was made worse from the strenuous experiments they forced upon her, but she couldn’t let herself look weak in front of these people. For some reason, she didn’t want to appear vulnerable.

They stopped when they entered the all-too familiar sensory deprivation room, the giant cylinder-shaped sensory deprivation tank sitting in the middle of it.

She tensed up when she saw Dr. Brenner walk towards them.

He frowned in distaste when he saw Eleven’s disoriented state. She had a tired, exhausted appearance alongside the bruises on her knees and arms from the fall she took when the Bad Men threw her into the solitary confinement room.

“Didn’t I tell you guys not to rough house with her?” Brenner said, “She’s a very important asset now that we have her in our possession.”

Long ago, Eleven had picked up Brenner’s referral to her with ‘she’ and ‘her’ pronouns. He was among the only Bad Man to refer to Eleven as a person. It initially confused her since he was easily the worst of them all – him primarily responsible for the dangerous lives she and her friends withstood. But then she realized he was only doing that as a very subtle manipulation tactic, to make himself out to be someone she could trust regardless of how he treated her. He was still doing it, even though she was now aware of how criminal he was. Eleven concluded it was probably a habit he never dropped.

“I apologize, Dr. Brenner,” One of the Bad Men next to Eleven expressed regret – mostly because of Brenner’s daunting tone. Eleven briefly shot the man an icy glare before returning her gaze downwards. He and the other man next to her flung her inside the small, dark room like she was some kind of ragdoll.

“Give her to me,” Dr. Brenner plainly said.

The Bad Men handed Brenner the rope that Eleven was restrained to; the lead scientist took it. Brenner then fished a photo out of his pocket and handed it to Eleven. It was a photograph of a man standing in front of a building, a large sign printed with large Cyrillic letters hung over it. She knew what Brenner wanted her to do – to pinpoint exactly where this person was.   
  
“Let’s see if you can locate this person’s exact whereabouts,” He said.   
  
Eleven looked downwards, a sudden wave of anger moderately replacing her anxiousness. She could feel her hands form into fists, her fingernails digging into her palms. She knew where her anger was coming from, she was pushed to the point of her nostrils profusely bleeding, the blood tattered on her gown. She had nearly passed out from the blood loss and the near lack of food they gave her. They physically abused her if they didn’t get exactly what they want, they separated her from her friends, they didn’t care about her pain and the torment she was going through.

“No.”

Her soft voice felt like icicles to the surrounding Bad Men.

She wasn’t going to let them push her around anymore. She had enough.

“What did you say to me?” Brenner’s voice suddenly became cold. Eleven knew Brenner dropped the feigned concerned, father-figure act the minute she escaped all those months ago. If she ever disobeyed him, she could see parts of his real personality slip out.

As much as it frightened her, Eleven persisted. Hopper, Mike, and the others taught her not to bow down to these people, no matter how much they wanted her to.

“I said no!” She said, in a louder voice. She could feel her eyes become watery. The ire, sadness, and disbelief of this whole situation poured out of her voice.

Brenner’s fists tightened against the chain, his anger more than obvious.

Eleven’s heartbeat suddenly became rapid.   


\--------  


“Truth or dare?”

“Dare,” Lucas answered, looking Dustin in the eyes.

Lucas and Dustin had retreated into the car where Max and Will resided as soon as they felt droplets of rain on their skin. They kept the doors locked tight and closed the windows, making sure the rain didn’t enter inside. Occasionally, either of them would peek through the rain-droplet covered windows to check if a hassled Mike would be running towards them. However, it had been close to 40 minutes since he left them to wait and there was no sign of the oldest since then.

Their seemingly never-ending, continuous wait had devolved into a game of truth and dare between Max, Dustin, and Lucas. Lucas and Dustin sat in the front seats while Max sat beside Will. The youngest was curled up in his seat, opting out of the game and sketching something in his sketchbook. Will thanked his lucky stars that he brought it with him. Drawing often was a way for the naturally anxious boy to enter a state of calm.

“…I dare you to eat this whole can of mushroom soup,” Dustin replied, a mischievous smile forming on his face. He shoved a soup can towards Lucas’ face, causing the latter to contort his face in disgust. Like the other canned foods Dustin haphazardly stuffed into the bag, this one was cold, the freezing temperatures in the car trunk adding to that.

Dustin popped the can open, showing the gelatinized cream of mushroom soup. Lucas put his hand over his chest and gagged, causing Max to double over into peals of laughter.

“No! No way am I eating that junk!” Lucas exclaimed, unable to look at the greying gelatin with chunks of mushroom in it. He pushed the can away from his face.

“That’s the freaking point of this game!” Dustin retorted.

“I literally stood outside in the rainy cold for five minutes without my coat! If I can do that you can surely eat a can of soup!” Max added.

“Come on, Lucas!” Dustin exclaimed, shoving the can in his face once again.

Will drowned out their bickering and looked at the digital watch ahead of them. 42 minutes.

That’s how long they’ve been waiting for Mike.

He refocused his attention on the quick sketch he was in the process of. It was in charcoal and consisted of a drawing of a boy, his body sprawled out in a giant groove. The giant groove was filled to the nest with fallen leaves and accumulation of bright shrubs – trees surrounding the area. Blood was profusely escaping the arm of the boy as his body almost lay limp. Will really had no idea why he drew such a picture, it was as if he almost spaced out and started absently drawing. He silently stared at it for what felt like ages, until he suddenly spoke up.

“...We really should be looking for Mike.”

The other three put a halt to their game of truth-or-dare once Will spoke.

While the others decided to play the game to distract from their growing concern, he was itching with worry. Him sketching helped ease off the stress that was accumulating, but not completely. He was starting to get scared.

“But what if he comes back and realizes that we’re gone?” Lucas replied, trying to calm down the troubled Will, “He said to wait here.”

“And what if he’s in trouble?” Will pressed, “You said it would take 20- 25 minutes tops for him to go to the Pharmacy and back; it’s been nearly 45 minutes.”

Lucas became silent.

“Do you really think he’s in danger?” Dustin asked.

The three waited for Will to answer. They didn’t want to believe that Mike would get himself into any sort of dangerous situation, especially when they promptly had to go rescue their other friend. It was too unbelievable in its own right – they didn’t want to deal with the stress of having two of them be in danger.

“Something tells me that he is,” Will finally said, his voice firm.

  
  
\--------

  
  
Mike shivered, clutching his shoulder with his left hand. He knew it didn’t make much of a difference as he could still feel blood seep through the fabric of his shirt. His right hand was kept stuffed into his coat pocket; it must have been soaked to the brim with blood by now. He walked closer and closer to the front of door of the house.

He stopped when he reached the porch. He pulled off the hood of his coat to reveal his face, his wavy hair soaked as he forgot to put on the hood right when it started to rain.

_Here goes nothing._

He knocked. He nervously grinded his teeth together, trying to brainstorm the right words to say to the person who was about to answer. His heartrate rose as he could hear quick footsteps from the inside come towards the front door.

A woman who looked to be in her middle ages answered the door. She had wavy, disheveled brunette hair, her eyes brown. She had a navy jacket on, looking as if she was about to go somewhere. She looked on at Mike, a confused expression on her face. Ahead of her, a boy she didn’t know was awkwardly standing at the front of her door, his head slightly sunken down and right hand firmly stuffed into his pocket.  

“…I-I need help.”

Those were the first words Mike got himself to say, his voice weak and shaky. All of a sudden he once again was having second thoughts on doing this, he didn’t want to get himself into a bigger rut – but he knew he would die of blood loss if he didn’t get help fast.

He could feel sweat gather at his forehead, a sudden bout of dizziness entering him. Mike suddenly tipped forwards, not watching his balance.

“Woah!” The lady exclaimed, she caught Mike before he could fall flat on his face. The boy was barely responsive, “Hey, are you alright??”

The woman tried shaking Mike to respond, but he barely did much. Her eyes widened when she saw droplets of blood tatter the edge of the porch doormat as his right arm lay limp next to her.

“Oh my goodness-” She tried regaining her composure; she turned back towards the inside of her house – trying to keep her hold on Mike, “Jonathan! Jonathan!”

She pulled Mike’s left arm around her shoulders and walked them both into the house. For a brief moment, she looked back outside – only seeing the hard rain and Pinto parked in the yard ahead of her. After she closed the front door, another person emerged from the hallway, a male in his teens, but older than Mike. He stopped when he saw Mike’s body dangled beside the woman, his mop of dark-hair splayed downwards as his head was limp. He could see tracks of blood behind them.

“Mom, what’s going on? What happened-”

“Go grab the first-aid supplies!” Jonathan’s mom frantically interrupted, trying her hardest to hold up Mike. ‘Jonathan’ nodded, clearly shocked from the whole ordeal he just came across. He sped towards the living room of the house as Jonathan’s mom dragged Mike towards the bathroom. Mike felt incredibly loopy but he could vaguely take note of the appearance of the bathroom – small, blue-tinted tiling and walls, a mirror to the right above the sink, and a light blue bathtub to the left. He tried distracting himself with that to avoid fainting on them.

She carefully sat Mike on a short stool that stood beside the sink.

When she saw Jonathan holding a large bag of what looked like to be the first-aid supplies she asked for, she immediately grabbed the bag from her son and ripped it open. Jonathan remained at the door entrance, a confused and rather startled look on his face. The condition that the boy was in was horrific. His skin was clammy and pale, he could barely hold himself up, and he looked like he was about to fall unconscious any minute.

“I’m going to need you to take off your jacket,” She said, “Can you do that for me?”

Mike nodded, his eyes half open. He zipped down his jacket. When he tried slipping it off, he grunted in pain – a sharp pain exiting his right shoulder. That was when the woman helped him pull it off, slowly removing the garment off of him without stressing the movement of his right arm. Her hands trembled when she dropped the coat in front of her, total shock on her face. Jonathan was just as taken back, not removing his eyes from the disaster in front of him.

The entire right sleeve of Mike’s crewneck sweater was completely soaked in blood, the blood continuing to drip off the edge of the sleeve and onto the floor. Mike could feel his face pale even more, if that was possible. He was losing so much blood.

“Shouldn’t we call for an ambulance?” Jonathan spoke up, “This looks really bad.”

“No!” Mike suddenly said, taking aback the two.

For Mike, there was no way that could happen. After being treated by the ambulance or hospital workers, he would be taken to the police station to be questioned, and then they would dig into his personal information…or rather the lack of it. Things would continue to get increasingly complicated from there. From the pleading in Mike’s eyes, she could see that the boy was desperate for her to not to press further or ask ‘why?’. She had no idea why he wouldn’t want her to call for one, but from the expression on his face it was something he didn’t want her to do, at any costs. When Jonathan was about to say something, the woman interrupted.

“Go fill up the bucket with water,” Joyce said.

“But Mom-”

“Jonathan, just do as I say!” She interrupted him again, she looked at Mike again, “I’m going to cut through your shirt since you can’t move your arm.”

Mike looked up at her, unable to say anything. He was astounded. Unlike her son, this woman didn’t even question his sudden outburst and even the peculiarity of him not wanting to be taken to an ambulance.

It was then he really hoped that he didn’t just screw himself over even more.   


\----------  


Max, Lucas, and Dustin confusingly looked on as they took notice of Will’s rapidly twitching eyelids as he fell asleep. Dustin suggested they wait an extra 20 minutes before they go out on a venture to find Mike, but in the process of that, Will strangely and suddenly fell asleep. Lucas concluded it was due to him being burnt out from the severe nausea he had earlier, but Dustin didn’t buy that.

“You think he’s having an episode?” Max asked.  Due to stressful situations, Will’s ability of true-sight would become spontaneous and would often mock symptoms of post-traumatic stress that resulted him in having bouts of “episodes” of traumatic experiences – or so his friends would refer them to as. His power either manifested itself as a ‘curse or a blessing’, as Will said so himself.  

Dustin noticed a fleck of blood trail down from Will’s nostril. The boy curled up further into his corner of the car seat, his eyes glued shut. It wasn’t long before the other two noticed the sudden appearance of blood.

“It’s not an episode,” Dustin replied. Aside from Mike and Eleven, he was the most introspective of Will’s spontaneous use of his powers, “…I think he’s actually doing it voluntarily this time.”

“He shouldn’t though,” Lucas said, “He’s still recovering from his car-sickness; he might get worse once he wakes up.”

The three could only look on as Will was in his curled up position, his eyelids twitching and his breathing becoming more intense and labored. They were clueless as to what he was using his power for exactly, but they couldn’t exactly wake him up in the midst of this process. Only Will, in his own accord, could wake himself up out of true-sight.

Lucas slightly opened up the car window next to him and pulled up his binoculars. He looked through them; the rain was still as rapid as ever, the trees calmly blowing from the occasional cool breeze. To his dismay, he still didn’t see any sign of Mike. He closed the window and slumped back in his seat.

That was when Will suddenly jerked upwards.  The others jumped up in their seats, startled.

Will breathed heavily, his eyes wide open. Dustin put a comforting hand on Will’s shoulder as the younger was catching his breath.

“What did you see?” Max asked.

“…Mike, in my now-memories,” Will quietly said, wiping his nosebleed with his sleeve, “He’s…he’s hurt.”

Lucas, Dustin, and Max were all ears, eagerly waiting for Will to continue.

“How did he get hurt??” Lucas asked, “Did someone hurt him?”

“I don’t know,” Will answered, his voice tired from his expansive use of his power, “He went into someone’s house and he’s getting help…”

“Okay, then that means we should go to him then!” Max said, “We don’t have any more time to waste.”

“We don’t know where he is, Max,” Dustin replied, “Will isn’t Eleven; he’s not able to locate people.”

Max groaned, almost forgetting that tidbit.

“We can trust those people to make him better,” Will continued, “He’ll come back to us after that happens.”

“How, exactly? What if they call the authorities- the police or something?” Lucas asked.

“I don’t know…something just tells me that we can,” Will replied, “…that the woman who brought him in is on our side no matter what.”

The other three looked at each other, unable to say anymore. They would have to trust Will’s gut instinct for now; it was the only feasible option on their plate.   
  


\---------  
  


“Luckily it was just a bullet graze, it would have been a lot worse if it went through your entire shoulder,” The woman, who went by Joyce Byers, said, “If the blood continues to come out, I’ll wrap another bandage over this one.”

Joyce had promptly pressed on Mike’s wound for a good 10 minutes. The bleeding had stopped since then and residual blood was washed off before antibiotic cream was added. Mike had a bandage wrapped around his right shoulder; it was tightly secured around the area, preventing the blood from remerging. To his luck, Mrs. Byers was a nurse so she knew a thing or two on how to heal cuts. His other newly formed cuts were also treated while the cuts that Will treated in the morning were re-applied with new bandages and Band-Aids.

By the time Jonathan had left to go to work, Joyce had walked to the kitchen to pour a glass of orange juice for Mike to drink to make up for his massive blood loss. He was still feeling a little bit drowsy and could barely move his right arm, but it was a giant improvement from when he first walked up to the house. He desperately needed something to eat though. He was so tired.

The dark-haired boy saw a house plant to his left as he sat back on the comfortable couch of the living room. It was alive and well, the leaves bright and green. Mike breathed in and extended his hand towards the plant. _This is an emergency._

He touched the roots of the plant and closed his eyes. He instantly felt most of the tiredness and fatigue subside from him. Within a second, the leaves of the plants turned brown, the stems became parched – the entire plant wilting and the life being sucked out from it.  

He immediately removed his hand from the house plant when he saw Joyce walk back into the living room with a glass of orange juice and a banana – thankfully, she didn’t take notice of the plant.

“Thank you,” Mike quietly said, taking the glass and banana. He eagerly drank the orange juice, the cool, refreshing liquid feeling like heaven as it washed down his throat. Joyce was surprised by how quick Mike inhaled the glass of orange juice; she watched the boy quickly peel open the banana and take a large bite into it.

“I’m going to have to ask you a few questions…since I’m assuming you don’t want me to call the cops,” Mrs. Byers spoke up. All Mike had told her was that he was shot by a group of people who were after him; he had kept his answers short, afraid he was going to give out too much information.

He looked up at her, dreading for when this time came. He knew this was bound to happen sooner or later; she wouldn’t just let him off the hook like that.

“Who exactly were you running away from?” She asked, “I can report them to the police without involving you.”

Mike paused.

“I don’t know their names.”

A lie. Mike had recalled two of the bullies being referred to as ‘Troy’ and ‘James’. However, he was familiar with how authority-figures questioned these issues. They would continue to research the whole ordeal to get a full scope on what exactly happened and all of the people involved. Mike couldn’t completely trust her yet.

“What about your parents?” Joyce asked, “They must be worried sick; I can call them so they’ll know you’re okay.”

_Shit._

Mike held the nearly finished banana in his shaking hand. He didn’t have any that he knew of. The closest thing he had to one was Hopper.

“…I don’t have any.”

Joyce frowned, the peculiarity in his answer and solemn tone in his voice befuddling her.

“So you must be in foster-care,” Joyce concluded, Mike didn’t say anything as he didn’t want to press further on this. Mrs. Byers once again asked another question, “What’s your name?”

“Mike,” He said, his growing discomfort obvious.

He didn’t have a last name either. There were no official records of those for him and his friends, from what he knew.

“Okay, Mike. Just rest up,” Joyce said, still not satisfied with the brief and terse answers she got. She watched as Mike leant against the comfortable armrest of the couch. She was slightly confused as to what to do; the boy wasn’t giving her clear answers for a reason…as if he was in bigger trouble than just the people who attacked him. She knew Mike didn’t look any older than 16 so he had to have some sort of guardian taking care for him. However, he seemingly didn’t want to tell her anything about that.

She thought she’d be able to get answers out of him if he got enough rest.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yess, Joyce is a nurse. I changed her occupation cause it made sense in the context of this fic, plus I can totally see her being one. (P.S: I wonder if people guessed Joyce Byers only from the description of the Ford Pinto.)
> 
> & Thank you guys for commenting! I’m really thankful for all the feedback!


	6. Chapter 6

“Lucas! Lucas, wake up!”

“Just five minutes…” Lucas mumbled, his body awkwardly situated on the car seat. The barely responsive boy hadn’t been able to fall asleep last night, the stress of Mike preoccupying his thoughts instead.

“Lucas, I’m serious!”

No response.

BEEP!

Lucas immediately jumped up, startled by the sudden noise. He blinked his eyes several times, seeing a very impatient Will, with his small hand extended towards the car horn. The older raised his eyebrows, his confusion spiking up. The brown-haired boy looked like he was about to press it again; Lucas certainly didn’t want that as the noise was jarring to hear. He sat upwards, trying to lessen his grogginess. His eyes suddenly widened as he saw the morning sun shine through the trees, the rain ceasing a long time ago.

He then turned around and saw that he and Will were the only ones in the car.

“Wait…where’s Dustin and Max?!”

His voice was almost on the verge of shouting. First Eleven, then Mike, and now them.

“I don’t know! That’s what I was about to ask!” Will frantically said, his heartbeat shooting up. Not only did they all fall asleep over the night, the other two seemingly vanished without a trace during their barely healthy nap.

Lucas immediately pushed open the car door, going outside. He grimaced when he saw how damp the ground was from the heavy rain yesterday. He agitatedly looked around the space of the forest they remained in; he couldn’t see any sign of them. He heard another click of the passenger door opening, Will coming out as well.

“Will, are you feeling any better?” Lucas asked.

“Yeah,” He replied, “Why?”

“You have to check if they’re in dange-”

Will was surprised he hadn’t thought of using his true-sight earlier – he silently thanked Lucas for being so introspective at a time like this. Before Will could go back inside the car to do so, the two saw branches ahead of them move. Loud footsteps against the damp ground immediately followed after. The two boys were startled from the sudden noise and stood close to each other, Lucas situating himself in front of Will in a defensive position. Lucas instantaneously relaxed himself when he saw two familiar faces partially hidden within the hoods of their jackets. One of them had long, red hair that fell from the covering.

Max and Dustin.

The two quickly sprinted towards them, carrying rather large brown paper bags.

“Where did you go??” Lucas immediately said, “We thought something bad happened to you guys!”

“McDonalds,” Max replied, in a rather calm voice; she pulled her hoodie off before waving the brown paper bags in front of the other two, the large yellow ‘M’ logo encapsulating them. Lucas bemusingly looked at them, wondering how the hell she was so unruffled about this. They were to wait here at all times and stay together before Mike came back…whenever that would be. Her nonchalant attitude befuddled him.

“So you decide to leave us without any word?” He continued, completely flabbergasted as to how careless they could be, “Something really horrible could have happened, something exactly like what happened to Mike!”

“It’s okay, Lucas! We’re back and we’re fine!” Dustin attempted to calm the frantic boy down, “We were really hungry, like really hungry for actual food. The canned soup and dried food just wasn’t cutting it.”

“We weren’t gone for too long either, ten minutes tops actually,” Max shrugged; she took note of the rather short distance the fast food restaurant was from the area they resided in, “Besides, you guys would _not_ wake up…we literally tried everything.”

Will dug his foot into the ground, guilt consuming him. He was awake all night, his stress about Mike not dwindling. He clearly knew where his friend was as he was fast asleep on a couch in that person’s house last time he used true sight, but that wasn’t enough to ease the perturbed Will. He eventually was the last one to fall asleep after Lucas, at 6:00 in the morning, only sleeping for a mere three hours.

 “What did you guys get?” Lucas said, peeking through the paper bags. Will looked ahead at them, feeling the loud, uncomfortable rumble of his stomach. It smelled good and he hadn’t eaten a thing since yesterday morning. He had his horrible feeling of nausea to blame for that.

“Two egg McMuffins, a sausage McMuffin, pancakes, and some hashbrowns,” Dustin replied, handing one of his bags to Lucas, “What else did you get, Max?”

“Pretty much the same thing,” She replied. Will and Lucas nearly wowed at the sheer amount of food they managed to buy, but they didn’t complain. They were hungry and they were in desperate need of something to fill them up – greasy fast-food would do just the trick.

“You guys are going to have to explain this to Mike when he realizes you guys spent a good chunk of our money,” Lucas said, eagerly looking through the bags Max brought.

“He’ll understand,” Max said, patting Lucas on the back. Her calm outlook about this wasn’t going away any time soon.

The four then went back into the car to eat their calorie-laden breakfast.  
  


\--------  
  


“…My stomach feels like it’s going to explode,” Lucas groaned, leaning back in the front passenger seat.

“Same,” Max replied, in a pained voice, “…Did we eat everything?”

“Yup,” Dustin nodded, his head movement slow and sluggish.

Within the Blazer, piles of Styrofoam packages laid on top of each other, ketchup packets haphazardly thrown back into the paper bags, and wrappers left aside on the seats. Max leaned against the wheel as the discomfort from all the food she ate was apparent; she tried to not lean against the car horn. In the back, Will and Dustin leant against each other. They all felt incredibly lethargic, instantly regretting the large portions they just consumed. Back when they were home, going out to buy fast-food was very infrequent and they treated such meals as a very special occasion. Young teenagers plus numerous fast food items at their disposal spelled disaster like this.  
  
Dustin’s eyes absently deviated to his wrist area on his left arm, his jacket sleeve barely covering it. He saw the familiar ‘010’ tattoo imprinted on it.

“You guys know of any places that remove tattoos?” The curly-haired boy spoke up.

“That’s a random question,” Lucas said, “Why?”

Dustin extended his arm on the arm rest that sat between the two front seats and pulled his sleeve to bring the tattoo into plain view.

“Oh…” Lucas said, his voice disheartened and quiet. He briefly peeked through his own jacket sleeve, glancing at his ‘007’ tattoo. He hated looking at that thing every time he changed out of his clothes into new ones. It had gotten to a point when he had to look away from his left wrist every time he changed; it brought back too many horrific memories if he glimpsed at it for too long.

Shortly after they were brought into Hawkins lab as babies, each of them were branded with tattoos, representing their place as test subjects. They were referred to as those numbers until Hopper took them in and revealed to them their birth names with the exception of Eleven...or at least the first names they were given at birth, as their last names were scraped from official records that Hopper possessed. On the other hand, Eleven wasn’t disconcerted by being referred to as Eleven because that was the only name she knew herself to be. She did prefer ‘El’ over Eleven though.

“After we find El and return home, we could find some way to remove them ourselves,” Max said, “There’s no way we can use our money, it’s probably super expensive.”

“That is…if our home is still there,” Dustin replied.

“You think some of them went back and managed to find our house?” Max asked.

“…we weren’t too far from home when the Bad Men found us,” He said.

It was completely quiet in the car, the faint sounds of the breeze and chirping birds audible from outside. It was tense between the four, the worst case scenario suddenly popping up in their minds. It was clear the minute after they rescued Eleven, they wanted it all to be over for good as they had thought it would be when they first escaped.  

“Gosh, this sucks. This sucks so much.”

Lucas’ voice was in absolute grief. To everyone else’s surprise, he sounded like he was on the verge of crying. The second oldest often put on a tough front and wasn’t the type easily susceptible to tears. The 15 year old immediately faced away from the others and fervently wiped at his cheeks. They all knew each other since they were able to walk so they were well aware of Lucas’ temperament and that he was trying to hide his tears, but they didn’t want to press further as it would agitate him.

“Why are the odds so stacked against us?” He continued, in a clearer voice. Lucas never mulled over such questions, let alone emotionally dwelled on them. He briefly wondered if he was subconsciously holding in these emotions this entire time or if whatever funky chemicals in the fast food created a sudden shift in his mood.

“Lucas-” Dustin stopped himself, unable to say anything after that.

“It’s really not fair,” He said, “We’re all just 14 and 15. All we should be worrying about is school and chores. Not fearing for our lives because of some cruel organization that did sickening experiments on us.”

The three unanimously agreed with Lucas. Although they had freedom without the boundaries set by bossy parents or the stress of waking up to go to school for eight hours five times a week, they were forced to grow up fast due to their circumstances. For as long as they could remember, they adopted a natural cautiousness which was only amplified when they first escaped Hawkins Lab. Any time they were out in the public, they had to be alert – hyper aware of their surroundings at all times. The average person didn’t have to deal with that burden.

“I feel you; I really do,” Max spoke up, her wistfulness coming back, “Sometimes I do wish I could live like a regular kid my age.”

“Yeah, like there’s probably so much we’ve missed out on,” Lucas sniffed, his nose stuffy. He turned around to face the other three once his gloomy emotions lessened.

“Definitely; I think about that a lot. How different our lives would be if we didn’t have powers…if we weren’t taken away from our families,” The red-head nodded.

It was surprising for them to have a conversation on such subject matter, especially when they were very thankful that they had each other. However, neither of them could bring that up as Mike and Eleven weren’t with them at the moment. That put a huge strain on their sense of calm.

“I can’t wait until that lab burns to the ground,” Lucas said, regaining his composure, “I can’t wait until everyone responsible is arrested and locked up in prison for a very long time.”

“Hopefully that happens in the near future,” Dustin replied.

“Hopefully,” Lucas repeated.

With that, the four retreated into silence – to ease their discomfort from the heavy breakfast they just ate.

 

\---------  
  


“…You let him sleep here overnight? Doesn’t he have anyone he can call? Like his parents?”

“No, I’m not really sure to be honest.”

“He didn’t tell you anything?”

“No, not much at all.”

A pause.

“Come on, Mom. Don’t you think this is a little bit strange? A complete stranger who’s nearly bleeding to death comes into our house and when you try asking him questions on how that happened he doesn’t seem to want to tell you anything.”

“Jonathan-”

“Anyone in that condition would be quick to tell you to call the cops, anybody they know for extra help. I mean, what if he’s a fugiti-”

“Don’t finish that sentence.”

A frustrated sigh.

“Jonathan, I’ll handle this once he wakes up. I really think this boy is in trouble, not in the way you think he is. Just trust me on this, okay?”

Another pause.

“…Fine, just trust your gut instinct. Seems really practical in this situation.”

“Don’t get sarcastic with me. Now go wake him up, he’s probably starving.”

Mike shut his eyes when he heard Jonathan’s footsteps come towards the living room. He had been awake for a good 20 minutes, but he didn’t want to awkwardly intrude on them as the other two were busy preparing breakfast. He could smell fried eggs, sausage, and biscuits coming from the kitchen, the enticing scent making his mouth water and stomach grumble. It was a huge improvement from Lucas’ frequently burnt omelets.

“Hey, um…Mike, it’s time to wake up. We have breakfast.”

He could hear Jonathan’s voice from above.

Mike slowly opened his eyes, pretending to wake up from a restful nap. He straightened the oversized pajamas of Jonathan’s that Joyce had handed to him, the comfortable fabric resting against his skin. He got off the couch, following Jonathan to the kitchen. Mike tried to ease his stiff posture, but he couldn’t bring himself to. The conversation he overheard all the way in the kitchen from the living room made him feel all the more awkward in this house. He couldn’t blame Jonathan though; he was having a natural reaction to all of this. Knowing what they themselves have been through, Mike and his five friends would have been just as cautious, if not more, if they were in Jonathan’s position.

“Good morning, Mike,” Mrs. Byers greeted him; she motioned the boy to take a seat in the kitchen table in which Mike uneasily did, “Is your arm feeling a bit better?”

“Yes,” He nodded, trying to extend his replies. He didn’t want to appear aloof with the brief answers he previously gave them, “I can’t really move it, but it doesn’t hurt as much.”

“That’s great,” The mother said, proud of her skills, “Do you like your eggs over-easy or sunny-side up?”

“Huh?” Mike widened his eyes, not recognizing those terms.

Jonathan stood beside the fridge, awkwardly looking between Joyce and Mike. He was waiting for his mother to pester questions out of this boy, real questions – he thought she was being a little too friendly for her own good. Joyce, on the other hand, thought that if she propagated a pleasant and welcoming environment for Mike, she could easily get answers from the boy.

“Sunny-side up means that the yolk still shows while over-easy is when you cook a sunny-side up egg on both sides,” Jonathan spoke up, slightly bewildered that Mike wasn’t acquainted with those terms.

“Oh, y-yeah, of course,” Mike dumfoundedly said, “I’ll have sunny-side up then.”

Joyce proceeded to prepare the egg sunny-side up, as Mike requested. Mike absently watched the mother, almost perplexed at how kind she was being to him. He used to find himself wondering what it would be like to have parents and to be raised as a normal boy by them. Was this what it was like? To have someone wake you up and then ask ‘what do you want for breakfast today?’, to have them care for you without much in return, and to make you feel at home. Although he had Hopper, a normal home environment was something he used to long for before he put that wishful thinking to rest.

After finishing breakfast, Mike managed to scarf down two links of sausage, four sunny-side up eggs, two biscuits, and two cups of orange juice. His huge appetite flabbergasted the other two as the boy had a rather thin frame. Joyce had silently concluded that the boy wasn’t getting adequate meals, wherever he was living. She was half right. Mike and his five friends weren’t exactly the cooking type. They mostly lived on canned food, TV dinners, and other frozen snacks such as Eggo waffles.

It was then Jonathan looked at his mother, waiting for her to ask ‘the question’. Mike then knew what was about to happen.

“Mike, I really need you to tell us some things,” Mrs. Byers spoke up, “If you want us to help you.”

Mike bit his bottom lip. Although he dreaded the time for when this moment came, he knew he couldn’t keep silent. Joyce had gone out of her way to nurse the horrid injuries he amassed while respecting his wishes to not contact the police, she let him stay in her house overnight and sleep on the couch, and now she cooked him up a hearty and rather delicious home cooked breakfast – one that he previously never had the pleasure of eating. He suddenly felt guilty for taking advantage of their hospitality and not communicating with them in return.

“Is anyone else after you?” She continued, “...Is it someone connected to the authorities?”

_Yes._

Mike couldn’t open his mouth. He was taught to not tell anyone outside his ‘family’ anything. He saw Jonathan and Joyce briefly look at each other, Jonathan had a growing sense of frustration as Mike remained silent.

“…Are you being abused by your guardians?” Joyce tried again, almost uncertain as to whether she could ask such a personal question, “Is that why you don’t want us to contact anyone? Because they might return you to them?”

The dark-haired boy felt his hands shake under the table; he had to say something, anything. He couldn’t just sit there in silence forever. He watched as Jonathan and his mother looked at him, waiting for an answer of any kind. He couldn’t leave them hanging.

He finally opened his mouth.

He hoped the others wouldn’t hate him for doing this.

“I don’t have any guardians…” Mike finally uttered, his palms were sweaty, “I- I actually live with five other people my age.”

He felt himself get lightheaded. In his entire life, he had never told anyone about this.

“Are you guys in trouble with the law?” Joyce continued, “Does that have to do with why you got shot?”

Mike shook his head.

“N-no,” He nervously said, “That’s a different story.”

He briefly talked about the three bullies he came across when he prevented an innocent person from being brutally beaten up by them.

“So are you in trouble with anyone else?” Jonathan spoke up.

“Yes,” Mike nodded.

“Who?”

He couldn’t believe he was actually doing this.

“…H-Hawkins Lab.”

Jonathan and Joyce gave each other surprised looks before looking back at Mike. It was almost as if either of them were somehow familiar with the place.

“What?” Joyce’s eyes widened. She wanted to clarify if she heard him right.

“Hawkins Lab,” Mike said, in a clearer voice.

 “Me and those five others I told you about…we ran away from them. They took us away shortly after we were born and they did all kinds of horrific experiments on us.”

The stricken expressions on their faces were too much for Mike to describe. From the table, the boy could hear their individual heartbeats. He could hear his much more frantic one. _Did they really know about that place?_ He wanted to stop telling them this very personal information, but it was too late. He couldn’t go back; he already gave them essential information, they wouldn’t never let this go if he left it at where he was right now. Mike suddenly thought about making a run for it by dashing out of the front door of the house, but he had no idea where he was; he couldn’t find his way back to his friends from here. Plus his arm and ankle were still in pretty bad condition.

“What types of experiments did they do on you?” Joyce pressed, her voice somber. To Mike’s surprise, she didn’t sound like she was on the verge of panicking. She didn’t suddenly make a dash for the phone to call the police so she could tell them that some secretive organization was conducting cruel experiments on a bunch of young teenagers.

“I can’t tell you that,” Mike said, his voice more firm. That would mean telling them about his powers. He absently pulled the left sleeve of his pajama sleeve over his wrist, his hands continuing to rest under the table. For a second, he wondered if Joyce ever noticed the ‘006’ tattoo on his inner wrist when she fixed the bandage on his shoulder.

When Jonathan was about to ask him ‘Why?’, Joyce stopped him.

“So you don’t want us to contact the police about this?” It was as if the woman could read his mind.

“No,” Mike shook his head, “It’ll just make things worse.”

It was silent for a good few seconds, the environment tense.

“…Okay,” Mrs. Byers finally said, leaving it at that. Although she definitely wanted to ask more, she could sense how uncomfortable Mike was. From what she could tell, she suspected that the boy had never told anybody about this, so she and Jonathan were an exception. All she could do was trust him and take his word.  
  


\---------  
  


_‘Papa!’ A little girl screamed._

_She was dragged by two men in lab coats. She tried wringing herself free, her legs dangling as she could barely keep up with their fast footsteps._

_Her breathing became more rapid, tears streaming down her cheeks as she saw the dreaded solitary-confinement room get closer and closer to her. She looked back, seeing an angry Brenner at the end of the hallway they resided in. He stood there and watched her, not moving a single step from the spot he resided in._

_‘NO! NO!!’_

_She screamed louder. They men weren’t letting go. She was going to be locked up in that tiny room, in complete darkness. She was terrified of that place._

_She looked back at Brenner._

_‘Papa, please!’_

_Brenner was unmoving, waiting for the men to lock her up._

_Why didn’t he do anything? Why was the man who constantly insisted that he cared about her and wanted ‘the best for her’ not doing anything? Didn’t he care that she was absolutely horrified of dark, confined spaces?_

_She was thrown inside the tiny room and immediately locked in, the lighting from the bright hallway disappearing as the door closed._

_‘Papa!’ She slammed the door from inside with her fists. She hated the darkness, the feeling as if the room was shrinking in on her. She wanted to get out. She was so scared._

Eleven’s heart raced as she recalled that horrific memory from years ago. She was put in that room again and she had been inside for a good two hours. The girl grimaced, every inch of her body immeasurably sore. She could barely move while she absently felt the new bruises she just received. Her heart continued to race as she laid on her side, completely enveloped by darkness.

She was still very frightened, but she didn’t regret disobeying Brenner’s orders. It actually felt good, to yell her heart out at that son of a bitch. To her surprise, she was slightly amused too. Brenner was strict about the other Bad Men hurting her as they still needed her in tip top shape to perform their experiments, but his suppressed temper got the better of him and he made them hurt her even more before they locked her up. Trying to ignore the pain, Eleven rolled on her back looking up at complete blackness. When she got better, she had to plan some way to escape. She did it before; she could do it again. She couldn’t completely rely on Mike and the others, in case they weren’t able to get to her.

She frowned when she heard distinct footsteps.

She bit her lip as she stood up. She hoped this was the part where they’d get her out of this dreaded room. Eleven squinted her eyes when the door opened, her dilated pupils adjusting to the sudden entrance of the bright hallway lights. She kept a threatening glare, expecting to see the Bad Men come in to take her somewhere else.

However, her glare instantly changed into absolute shock.

Her eyes were wide and her lips were parted open, when she saw who stood at the door entrance.

“It’s been a while, kid.”

There stood Jim Hopper, his tall figure looming at the entrance as he looked down at Eleven.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here are the designated “numbers” for each of them. 
> 
> Mike - 006  
> Lucas - 007  
> Max - 009  
> Dustin - 010  
> Eleven - 011  
> Will – 016
> 
> Next chapter will probably be posted earlier than usual since I'm nearly done with that one - I hope you enjoyed this one!


	7. Chapter 7

After a rather long breakfast riddled with an uneasy atmosphere, Joyce promptly left for work, leaving Mike and Jonathan alone in the house. Before she left, Mike had asked the mother for directions to Mirkwood. He was too uncomfortable to explain to her on why he had to go to that particular place as the boy’s discomfort with giving Joyce such personal explanations to her questions lingered. Mike then asserted he should leave since he felt he was placing ‘too much of a burden’ on her and Jonathan, but Joyce’s inherent compassion and nurturing disposition overtook her rationale and she insisted that he stay until his condition got a little better. Mike promised himself he was going to leave tomorrow morning even if his injuries didn’t improve from today; they couldn’t leave Eleven waiting any longer. He would never forgive himself.

Jonathan, on the other hand, maintained his unreceptive nature. He thought his mother was too trusting of other people, often putting her concern above rationality.

Mike was seated alone on the same couch he slept in, eyes glazed on the TV ahead of him, which he had been doing since Joyce said he could watch television to pass the time. He couldn’t complain; he was comfortable, the warmth in the room providing that. It was an unbelievable contrast from the freezing temperatures he had to endure when he was soaking wet. He felt a sense of amenity, mostly due to Joyce’s hospitality towards him even though he scarcely explained what was going on with him. She wasn’t judging of Mike, she didn’t treat him as some borderline insane weirdo to his surprise.

The dark-haired boy’s eyes drifted to a several photos lined up on the fireplace next to him. He stood up to take a closer look at them.

They consisted of typical family photos and individual photographs. He noticed a few pictures of a younger Jonathan, some in his adolescence, some of him as a young kid. He also saw much younger as well as more recent pictures of Mrs. Byers. Mike smiled to himself, the younger Mrs. Byers reminded him of Will, a strangely stark resemblance between the two. He brushed that off as many things lately seemed to remind him of Will for some reason. He saw group pictures of Joyce and Jonathan together, smiling and as happy as can be.

Mike stopped when he saw a framed photograph hidden behind the others. With much curiosity, he picked it up to take a look.

It was another group photo, but instead of Jonathan and Joyce alone, there was another man with them. Jonathan was a young child in the picture and Joyce clearly looked younger. Before Mike could conclude that man to be their father, he saw a visible bump on Joyce’s stomach. She was pregnant.

_She has another child?_

…

Mike immediately turned around and saw Jonathan a few feet away from him.

The younger was surprised he didn’t hear his footsteps earlier. Jonathan noticed that he held the framed photo in his hands, but he didn’t look angry. In fact, he was a little taken aback.

“S-sorry, I was just looking around and I-”

“Its fine,” Jonathan interrupted him. He took the photo from Mike’s grasp. A sudden wave of guilt hit Mike; he instantly lamented peeking through something that was probably very personal to them – especially if it was hidden behind all of the other frames.

“I don’t know why my mom still has this picture here,” Joyce’s son continued, not a bit of anger in his voice. He kept his eyes on the photo, “She and my father separated a long time ago and they didn’t exactly leave on good terms.”

Mike swallowed, surprised that Jonathan was suddenly being open with him. Unlike his mother, he was stand-offish and distant to people he didn’t know well, especially people he didn’t trust – people like Mike. However, Jonathan didn’t want to give Mike the cold shoulder anymore, as much as he felt discomfort with having such a stranger stay in his house. He took his mother’s words of advice; keeping an environment where Mike could feel at ease would get him to open up more.

It was then the very pregnant Joyce within that picture came back to Mike’s mind.

“Are you her only child?”

Mike heard himself ask. He hoped he wasn’t prying into something that was too private. He saw Jonathan hesitate, his neutral expression changing into a rather…distraught one. Mike was afraid that his inquisitiveness went too far until Jonathan finally answered.

“Yes and no.”

Mike raised his eyebrows.

“…She had a miscarriage years ago,” He replied, “A little more than fourteen years ago.”

Although Jonathan was clearly upset from the bout of information he revealed, there was a subtlety of acceptance in his voice as if he finally came to accept that such a devastating thing happened. Mike didn’t know how to respond to that; he felt guilty the minute he finished asking that question.

“I’m sorry,” Was all Mike could say. The whole situation was too tragic for words.

“My mother doesn’t believe that though,” Jonathan said, he himself couldn’t believe he was spilling this information to someone he barely knew. Other than his mother, he himself barely spoke to people unless he felt obligated to. He didn’t have a proper outlet to express his concerns, so he found himself letting this all out all of sudden to a very curious Mike.

“Why?” The younger inquired; this was rather…interesting to say the least.

“She thinks her second child was taken away from her.”

“From the hospital?” Mike asked, in which Jonathan nodded to, “Do you think that might have happened, too?”

“No,” The older shook his head, a solemn smile gracing his features, “That’s a too outlandish for me to believe.”

Mike thought otherwise. He was suddenly reminded of his and his friend’s predicaments; they were all taken away from their parents as babies so that theory wasn’t bizarre at all to him. Plenty of test subjects within Hawkins Lab were children as old as he…maybe-

“My mom wants to believe that maybe there’s a chance he’s out there,” Jonathan finally said, snapping Mike out of his thoughts, “It’s a way for her to cope, to keep herself from breaking down.”  
  


\--------

  
Eleven felt like she was glued in her sitting position, her face unable to move. She kept a stricken gaze on Hopper, her shocked expression not faltering. She hadn’t passed out from her exhaustion and fatigue due to the experimental trials they forced upon her so she wasn’t asleep, and therefore she wasn’t  dreaming.

Jim Hopper was physically standing in front of her. Alive and well.

Jim Hopper – the man who provided them shelter and protection from Hawkins Lab and the Bad Men, the man who established his role as the father-figure to them, the man who taught them essentials of the world outside the lab, the man who taught them how to defend themselves against any alleged threat, the man who took consideration of their fondness to their individual interests and tailored his limited time into understanding them, the man who they taught died all those months ago.  

Eleven could feel tears gather in her eyes. She immediately closed and opened them, blinking rapidly, to prevent herself from visibly crying in front of Hopper.

What was so strange was that she had no idea what to feel at the moment. Happiness? Sadness? Confusion? Anger? She could have sworn she felt dozens of different emotions jolt through her within seconds when she did a double take on Hopper’s appearance. There was something peculiarly different about him, something she couldn’t pinpoint – but due to her introspective nature, she could see it. The look in his eyes gave it all away or at least most of it away. His eyes were glazed, as if there was a dead look behind them. She had a million questions to ask, but they wouldn’t come out. Why was he in the lab? Why was he with _them_? Why didn’t he look all that surprised to see her?

He carried a generous tray of food, actual food – a warm rice casserole with a cup of ice cool water in his other hand. Eleven lips were parted when she noticed what was on the edge of the food tray. The corner of the metal tray had Eggos piled with whipped cream, chocolate chips, candy-coated peanut butter pieces, and fruit flavored candies. That was a very special dessert that Hopper would specially make for her, dubbed the Eggo-Triple-Decker-Extravaganza. She had insisted that Hopper make this for her on her birthday instead of buying a regular cake…and he did. She continued to blink rapidly, the wateriness and emotion in her brown eyes persistent.

There was also the fact that the Bad Men hadn’t fed the starving girl since they brought her here, only giving her small portions of a sugary liquid to replenish her energy when she used a lot of it up during the physically intensive experiments.

“You must be really hungry,” He said, the seconds of silence between them feeling like years. He extended his hand with the tray and cup towards her.

Eleven felt herself backing away to the wall of the room. Now that she heard his voice a second time, it was enough to agitate her initial suspicions. She knew there was something off; his voice was unfeeling and numb. This wasn’t the Hopper she knew.

She couldn’t trust him.

That was what he taught her. When she had second-thoughts about something, she had to follow her cautious instinct and abort.

Hopper placed the tray and cup on the ground and slid them towards her.

“I know you’re confused by all of this, but I’ll explain it to you in time,” He said.

Eleven felt her natural impatience surface. It suddenly masked her initial shock.

“Explain it now.”

Her voice was firm and resolute.

“You see, I can’t,” Hopper replied, “You have to eat. I know they haven’t fed you properly.”

Why wasn’t he outraged about this? Why was he seemingly so calm about this? Why wasn’t he breaking her out? Why was he just standing there? Why? Why? Why? Those thoughts suddenly invaded Eleven’s mind.

Her tears reemerged, but she couldn’t control them this time. Hopper saw a tear stream down her cheek and then another one on her other cheek. When he attempted to reach over to reassure and comfort her as he used to do, she instantly backed away.

“Don’t touch me!” She almost shouted, the shockwave from her voice causing the tray of food to fly towards Hopper, the contents dirtying the uniform he wore. She had no idea what came over her, her sudden anger was unusual. But she thought it was justified.

Hopper could only look ahead at Eleven, watching the girl try her hardest to hold her remaining tears in.

“I promise that all the questions you want to ask will be answered,” Hopper finally said, “…You just have to trust me.”

That was when he stood up and left, the door of the room closing behind him.

Eleven’s sobs became audible, her body shaking as more tears streamed down her cheeks. She took Hopper’s sudden disappearance the hardest. She thought that if by some miracle that he came back, she would be the happiest out of the six…but here she was feeling a bunch of conflicting emotions as she cried her eyes out.

She ceased crying when she saw more Bad Men open up and walk into the now lit up solitary confinement room. They grabbed her by the arms, silently telling her that she was to go do a bunch of other tests. This time, she couldn’t bring herself to say no. She was too upset to scream at them and tell them screw off after what just happened.

  
\--------

 

Mike inhaled the warm and hearty scent of the dinner items sprawled across the dining room table. Dishes such as mixed greens, salad, baked potatoes, roasted chicken, and baked macaroni and cheese covered the table top. He looked upwards seeing Joyce carry a steaming hot crockpot with dish towels – she quickly placed it on the empty area next to Mike, prompting the boy to move aside. 

He was amazed. He had never seen such an array of food in front of him before, homemade food prepared with heart and love. He and his ‘family’ weren’t exactly the cooking types, so it was a contrast to their usually stockpiled TV dinners, canned food, and dried food. Mike had tried to keep his excitement under wraps as the aromas that masked the kitchen smelled incredible; he didn’t want to freak out Joyce or Jonathan who were just about done cooking.

“Don’t lean in too close, Mike. Your hair might get into the food.”

Mike immediately brushed back his bangs before he ceased leaning in. His face was pale, embarrassment present.

“Sorry, Mrs. Byers,” He apologized.

“Take a seat, dinner will be ready in a few minutes,” She said, before Mike sat in the chair adjacent to him. She couldn’t resist the urge to chuckle when she saw how noticeably enamored Mike was with the food items, “You’ve never eaten a meal like this?”

“No,” Mike shook his head, resisting the urge to sample a piece of the macaroni and cheese casserole that sat not too far from him, “We mostly live on processed food.”

“You’ll love my cooking then. Right, Jonathan?” Joyce turned to her son who was in the middle of grabbing utensils. From his expression, the normally reserved male looked clearly embarrassed. Joyce refocused her attention on Mike, “It’s a shame he doesn’t express his love for my culinary skills.”

Jonathan shook his head, biting his lip and resisting the urge to smile. His mother was an easily hassled person, but when she was in a relaxed mood she often channeled her sense of humor into taking her son down a notch and embarrassing him – as any ordinary parent would.

Mike gave the crowded table another thorough glance. He was shocked, but thankful that Joyce had gone the mile to cook something up like this – especially since it was a rare occurrence that Joyce would cook this much. Jonathan mentioned she only prepared this much food if she had special visitors, so Mike was taken aback that she would do this for someone like him, someone she barely knew at all. He guessed it was her strongly sympathetic and maternal personality.

“What are the other five like?” Jonathan spoke up from the counter adjacent to the other two. His curiosity of Mike was piqued by the conversation the two had earlier in the afternoon. He was still wary of the younger boy, but he had warmed up to him…as Mike wasn’t too uncomfortable when Jonathan used him as an outlet to tell him the tragic ordeal of his mother’s heart-wrenching situation.  

“The others I’m with?” Mike replied, knowing exactly what the other was talking about, “We’re like normal teenagers, I guess. We’re loud, emotional…we watch TV, play around, do whatever.”

“So you don’t actually go to school?” Jonathan continued, his curiosity piqued.

“We don’t,” Mike said, he hesitated, “We had someone take care of us, like a father. He taught us everything we need to know, now we kind of teach ourselves with books he left for us.”

It was silent for a moment. Joyce took notice of the solemn tone in those brief two words. For the first time…in a long time, Mike longed to live an ordinary life. He liked that he didn’t have to deal with the chore of going to school, but at what cost? To risk their lives hiding out in seclusion? He longed to grow up with loving parents, ones that were like Mrs. Byers.

“Are you sure you don’t need any help? For us to get you guys out of this situation?” Joyce said. She sincerely felt sorry for this boy.

“I’d really accept your help if you could help us,” Mike insisted. He hesitated, articulating in his mind what to say next, “…Just trust me when I say you can’t…and that it would make things a lot more complicated then they need to be, for both me and you guys.”

In a few minutes - and rather silent ones - Joyce had finished preparing the abundant dinner and they all sat at the dining room table. Mike almost thought Joyce would change her mind in the spur of the moment and call the authorities, but she didn’t. Even though she was itching to ask more questions to try to piece everything together, she still placed her trust in him. It was a lot like how Will operated. After Mike had eagerly ate copious amounts of food, he sat back on his seat, his stomach fuller than it’s ever been. He felt like he could barely move, but it was worth it all. This had to be the most appetizing meal he has ever eaten in all 15 years of his life – that wasn’t even an overstatement.

“That was really, really good,” Mike spoke up, glancing at his clean plate, before facing Joyce and Jonathan who sat across from him, “Thank you so much for this.”

“We’re just here to help,” Joyce smiled back at the very thankful Mike, “…So you’re leaving tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow morning,” Mike clarified. They had already discussed this earlier.

“One of my friends is in trouble and we have to get to her as soon as we can.”

A pause.

“…With Hawkins Lab?”

Mike swallowed, nodding his head. Joyce and Jonathan took that as a silent cue to not press anymore on that.   


\-------  


The next day, Mike looked back as Joyce straightened his backpack. It was a little heavy due to packaged leftovers from yesterday’s dinner and bottled water. She had carefully re-bandaged Mike’s bullet wound with a new bandage; the soreness was still there but it had improved greatly since yesterday. He could move it easily, although it still hurt immensely if he strained it too much. With a new sweater and freshly washed clothes, he was also given a map and directions on how to get back to Mirkwood.  

“If you ever need help, you can call us,” She handed the boy a small sheet of paper, the nine digit landline number written on it.

“I-It’s okay, Mrs. Byers,” Mike said, gently pushing her hand which carried the paper away from him, “You’ve done a lot for me, which you didn’t have to do. You could have called the cops to deal with all of this, but you went out of your way to help me yourself. I don’t want to be a burden on you guys.”

“No, I insist,” Joyce said, placing the paper in his hand. She turned around and saw Jonathan reside on the porch as the other two were on the yard. She looked back at Mike, her voice quieter, “I want to help anyone directly affected by what that…place does. I need to.”

Mike raised his eyebrows, taking a moment to catch what she was trying to say. By ‘place’ she meant Hawkins Lab. Before Mike could suspect if she knew more than he thought, he saw Jonathan walk up to the two of them.

“Good luck, Mike,” He said.

“Thanks,” The younger replied, placing the phone number in his jean pocket. He knew he wasn’t going to call her; he couldn’t involve her in any of this – whether or not she knew anything.

After a few more last words, Mike and Joyce shared a short hug.

“Thank you guys, again,” Mike said, a smile forming on his face, “For everything.”

It was then Mike waved to them in which they did back. He turned around, leaving the front yard of the house and eventually towards the main road. From the map, he would make his way back to Mirkwood and follow the familiar pathway into the forest where the other four were waiting.

After that, they would head straight to Hawkins Lab to get Eleven back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wew I was kind of late with this one cause this chapter was kind of hard to proofread (I didn’t know whether to change or keep certain parts of it the same as i originally wrote it)


	8. Chapter 8

A very bored Lucas sat on top of the cop car, aimlessly looking through his binoculars. Will sat beside him, clutching his sketchbook and practicing his prowess in hyper-realism by drawing the boy next to him and the forested landscape behind his profile. They retreated into silence and into their respective activities after a rather inadequate breakfast of chocolate pudding cups. Below them, Lucas could see Max juggling a crumpled up ball of the brown paper bags between her feet. She would occasionally kick it towards Dustin to see if he could do the same, but the boy failed to replicate her fast reflex. It resulted in him kicking the crumpled up ‘ball’ sideways or missing altogether. They had been like this for the past hour and it was the second morning since Mike had left. However, the disposition between them was a stark contrast from the previous day. It was a surprisingly relaxed atmosphere, not an emotional one where deep-seated sentiments about desiring a normal life finally broke out.

“Hey, Lucas. Do you hear that?” He heard Will ask beside him.

“Hear what?” He removed his binoculars before he saw Will point to something. Lucas quickly put them back in front of his eyes, looking through them again.

He frowned. He couldn’t see anything.

“I don’t see-”

Lucas immediately stopped when he heard rustling noises. Dustin and Max were too preoccupied with their back-and-forth kicking of the crumpled up brown paper bag ball to notice. Lucas scanned through his binoculars, trying to find any sign of moving branches. He quickly moved his line of sight when he could hear the bristling noises come from the left, towards the ‘entrance’ to the forest they resided in. His mouth was wide agape when he saw Mike come at a rather fast pace through the opening. Lucas’ surprised look immediately changed into one of pure relief and joy.

“MIKE!” Lucas screamed.

He dropped his binoculars and jumped off the car which was from a rather tall height. Dustin and Max took notice of this, their faces with the same amount of elation as Lucas. Lucas bounded towards the dark-haired boy, immediately enveloping him in a hug. From behind he could see the other two yell his name in his sheer happiness. Max joined the hug before Dustin swathed the other three with his arms.

Mike struggled to gain his foothold as the others all had him wrapped up tightly in constricting bear hugs. He suddenly lost his balance, tripping backwards onto the wet, leafy ground. In a domino effect, the other three instantly tripped forward, almost crushing the thin Mike with their bodyweight.

“Guys!” He said, his grin contorting into a grimace, “My shoulder! You’re crushing it!”

They instantly untangled their limbs and got off of him. Dustin and Lucas helped Mike to his feet, apologizing for their fervent affection towards him.

“Holy shit, Mike! What happened to you?” Dustin exclaimed; his eyes shifted to Mike rubbing his sore shoulder. He also took notice of the numerous bandages compounded with the cuts on his face that Will tended to all those days ago, “You look like you got mauled by a bear!”

“It’s a really long story, but I’m fine,” Mike replied, he looked at their relieved faces – with mild distraught, “Honest! I got into a little accident, but this really nice lady took me in and helped me.”

“We know, we know; it’s the “accident” we don’t know about,” Max said, “Will ‘spied’ on you a few times, he was really worri-”

Max was interrupted by Mike’s sudden shift in his attention. He immediately looked behind the three and saw the short boy standing alone, behind the others.

When he saw that Will had his attention, he moved between the other three and began making his way towards the youngest. The brown-haired boy’s heartrate suddenly became rapid, copious amounts of emotions drilling through his head. He felt the edges of his eyes sting, his sight becoming blurry. He blinked rapidly, forcing the newly formed tears not to come down. His breathing quickened as he felt himself walk at a rather fast pace towards the older boy.

Without saying anything, Will wrapped his arms tightly around Mike.

The other boy immediately followed, embracing him, his hands firm around his upper back. He could feel Will dig his face deeper in his chest as the younger’s arms encircled his torso. They were silent as their hug lingered, but their emotions radiated off of their body language. Mike could feel Will’s body shake as the younger kept himself squeezed against him, not wanting to cease their hug.

“What’s wrong?” Mike noticed Will’s sudden trembling, but his face was buried in his chest so he had no idea what the matter was at the moment. His eyebrows were raised in confusion when he saw Will gently hit his arm with the side of his fist, his face still hidden.

Will removed his grasp from Mike and revealed his face. Fresh tears stained his cheeks and the fabric of Mike’s jacket.

“I-I told you not to go.” He uttered out, wiping his face with his sleeve, “You should have listened to me. You didn’t have to do that…we would’ve had El by now if it weren’t for me.”

To Mike’s surprise, a twinge of anger could be heard in Will’s voice. Will was never angry at him. Aside from that, the younger boy seemed to be diverting some his anger onto himself – blaming himself for the predicament that was way beyond their control.

“...For a second, I thought the Bad Men found you and killed-” Will stopped, fear encompassing his eyes, “I thought- I thought we’d never see you again.”

“It’s okay; Will…I’m okay. I’m here,” Mike reassured him, before bringing the younger boy into another hug, “I’m sorry, so please don’t blame yourself for any of this. None of this is your fault.”

Will nodded before he felt himself returning the hug. He knew that was a habit of his he had to drop.

After the five retreated to the car, Mike explained the excruciating details of him confronting a group bullies who gave him the horrid gun injury on his shoulder. Mike then told them about the woman who took him in and tended to his cuts. He marveled over how kind and unjudging she was towards him and the immense amount of hospitality she provided as if she was his own parent. He briefly mentioned her name – Joyce Byers.

“So does that mean you told a complete stranger about our situation?” Dustin spoke up, causing Lucas who was next to him, to jeer in disbelief. Mike could only give them an exasperated side-eye; he knew that they were never going to let this go.

“Not everything!” Mike retorted, “It... It just came out, okay?”

“Lame excuse, Mike,” Dustin said.

“Hey, at least she helped me. I would have died if it wasn’t for her cause there was no way I was going to go to an actual hospital.”

“…He has a point,” Max quietly said, referring to Mike.

“Does she know about each of us?” Lucas asked.

“I told you I never went into specifics!” Mike said, his frustration growing, “I briefly mentioned that I lived with five others...no first names or anything.”

“Let’s pray that we don’t see cop cars barreling in here cause she changed her mind last minute,” Dustin said.

“I honestly don’t think she’s that type of person, Dustin,” Mike replied; he pulled up a sheet of paper from his pocket, and extended it out so everyone else could see, “See? She even gave me her phone number in case we needed help. Just her number, not the police, nothing like the CPS, not even a foster care system.”

Lucas took the paper from Mike, carefully examining it.

“You know we can’t do that.”

“Yeah, I know,” Mike replied, taking the sheet of paper back. He placed it back in his pocket, befuddling Lucas. He thought the phone number was something that Mike would dispose of as it would be of no use to them, “It’s just something to remind me of her hospitality, cause I’ll probably never see her again.”

Lucas only shrugged and retreated into silence. They couldn’t argue with him anymore; all that mattered was that he was back and in better condition.

“So, are we ready to get El?” Max spoke up, she was seated at the wheel, ready to drive at any minute. Everyone else gave alert nods and ‘yes’s’; that was the first thing they pledged they would do the minute Mike came back.  


\------------  


Within a few minutes, they were off and back onto the road. Will had taken his car-sickness medicine and hoped it would work so he wouldn’t have to stop Max again and stall their trip...again. While Max was driving and had Mike read out directions to her, the other three ate other snacks that Dustin had brought with him. Mike said they would save the meal that Joyce gave to them for later – after they got Eleven back. He wanted her too, to experience ‘the best meal he has ever had in his life’.

“Hey, what does this mean?”

Mike peered over to where Max was pointing at. It was a small, yellow tank-shaped light that suddenly lit up behind the wheel. From the backseats, the other three sat up, attempting to get a closer look. Will and Dustin looked at each other, unable to decipher what the symbol meant exactly.

“That…that means we’re low on gas,” Lucas spoke up, panic arising in his voice. During Mike’s long departure, he used a little bit of his spare time to look at the car manual that rested below the passenger seat. He could see the other two next to him groan in frustration; they didn’t have time for anymore interruptions. However, if they didn’t find a gas station nearby, they would come to a stop – thus thwarting their mission to save Eleven.

Max quickly glanced at Mike whose eyes were glued on the map.

“I think there’s a gas station, a mile away from here,” He spoke up, taking note of a rest stop highlighted on the map with a gas station symbol on it.

That prompted Max to change their route once Mike gave out the directions. Once they arrived, Max slowly entered the confines of the isolated gas station – keeping a slow and steady speed. Without thinking, she parked the Chevy perpendicular to one of the fuel pumps.

“Aren’t you supposed to park it like that?” Dustin said, motioning to the left of him.

She raised her eyebrows when she saw that another car had arrived, the vehicle parked parallel to the gas pump next to them. With much embarrassment, Max sloppily turned the vehicle until it was parallel to their gas pump. The five cautiously looked around, unmoving from their seats. They watched the person next to them emerge out of their car, opening up the fuel tank of their vehicle. After pressing a few buttons, they brought the gas nozzle into their car’s fuel tank, carefully adding the gas into the car.

Mike swiftly got out of his seat to follow what the other guy just did. Behind him, Lucas brought down the window to get a better look at what Mike was about to do. The person beside them would steal a few weird glances at the giant cop car that suddenly appeared at the station next to his – mostly due to the fact a young teenager emerged out of the driver’s seat. Mike felt himself becoming stiff as he tried his hardest to ignore that.

The others could see him, closely examining the directions on the screen.

‘Select payment at keypad’

The oldest looked back at the others, his dark eyebrows raised in confusion. It was clear that since none of them knew how to drive – except for Max who barely grasped the basics – they had no clue on how to get gas.

“C’mon, Mike, you’re supposed to click on the cash option,” He heard Dustin say from the backseat. Mike could sense the slight exasperation coming from the former’s voice. He wanted the clueless Mike to do it quickly so they could be out and away as fast as possible.

Mike proceeded to do so before the machine instructed him choose the type of gasoline. He looked downwards at the three gas nozzles below him, each neatly fitted into their respective nozzle pockets. The first, second, and third nozzles had the labels: Regular Unleaded, Mid-Grade Unleaded, and Super-Premium Unleaded printed above them respectively.

“Which one am I supposed to get?” Mike asked, his confusion pronounced.

“One that doesn’t end up destroying this car.”

Lucas rolled his eyes at Dustin’s smart remark, “Just try the regular one, it costs us the least.”

Mike proceeded to do so after he was instructed to fill the car’s fuel tank with the nozzle. Dustin, Lucas, and Max looked on at him as he opened the fuel tank door.

“Mike!”

This time it was Will’s voice. He looked back at the youngest.

“Just a second, I’m almost done with this,” He replied, his eyes back on the screen which showed the increasing cost of the car fuel he was inserting in the car. The others looked at Will, confusion at his frantic-sounding voice.

“What is it?” Lucas asked, “What’s wrong?”

He waited for Will to answer.

…

“They found us,” Will said, “The Bad Men.”

That was when Mike removed his hand from the gas nozzle, his full attention on Will. The other three glanced around the gas station, confusion amongst them since there were no sign of those ‘Power and Light’ vans. All they could make sight of was the guy who had just filled their car beside them. He was in the process of pulling out of the station, leaving with his gas filled vehicle. It was unusually silent among the five until Mike broke the silence.

“How do you know? I don’t see anyone-”

He stopped when he saw the familiar trail of blood leave Will’s nose. Within a second, the remaining three noticed this – grasping that this realization of Will’s came from his now-memories.

“We have to leave now.”

Mike was clearly taken aback by how firm Will’s voice sounded. It was the cold temper to his voice and the serious expression that overtook his normally innocent features. Will’s sudden and uncharacteristic change in his tone almost startled Mike, but he didn’t have time to reflect on that.

“Okay,” He managed to say. He immediately pulled the gas nozzle out of the fuel tank and placed it back in the machine before shutting the fuel tank closed.

“Wait, don’t we have to pay-”

“Guys!”

Dustin’s sudden yell interrupted Max. They whirled their heads around and saw what they hoped they wouldn’t see. They saw three giant white vans barrel into the gas station, ‘Power and Energy’ stickers labeled on the side of them.

Mike bolted to the passenger seat and slammed the passenger door beside him.  

“Go! Go! Go!” Mike shouted.

Max instantly pushed the accelerator paddle, zooming past the station canopy to create a reasonable distance from the vans. She hectically whirled the steering wheel, attempting to turn back to the main road or the exit of the gas station. Mike and the others looked back, noticing some of the Bad Men had already gotten out of the vehicles. They ran towards the police Blazer, some of them tightly holding onto what looked like tranquilizers.

“Max! They’re right behind us!” She could hear Dustin shout behind her.

One of them had caught up to the police vehicle, a bat in hand. When the man was about to smash open the rear windshield with the weapon, Max pulled back the gear shift and stomped on the accelerator. The car zoomed back, instantly knocking over the man. The others winced, taken aback by the impact the car had on the man.

She pushed forward the gear shift onto ‘drive’, zooming past the other vans. The five jumped in their seats as the police car drove over a sidewalk. She grimaced as she felt the Blazer colliding into the bushes that decorated the isolated station. They could hear the jarring scrape noises as the vines and leaves of bushes beside them scraped the side of the vehicle.

The five felt their bodies jolt to the right when Max made another sharp turn, entering the main road. They could hear the jarring high-pitched squeals of the Power and Energy vans behind them as they copied their harsh turn. The Bad Men were intent on not losing sight of them.

“Which way do I go?!” Max yelled, constantly turning her head to the back. The Bad Men were gaining up on her, the vans driving at a fast pace. She pressed her foot on the accelerator, waiting for Mike to say something.

“Left!”

She heard Will shout from the back.

Since she didn’t have time to question Will’s command as he wasn’t holding the map, she instantly made a left turn. She had to trust his judgement at a time like this. She could hear startled yelps come from the other five, the car rocking back and forth when it entered rough terrain. Her blue eyes were wide open, realizing she had swung off of the main road and back into the forest beside them.

“What are you doing?! We’re not on the road anymore!” Mike shouted, peeling his eyes off of the map.

As Max quickly turned back at Will, waiting for him to say something, Lucas and Dustin kept their eyes at their back to see if the vans were still following.  Max looked ahead of her realizing the car was about to slam headfirst into the trees, the impact causing Max to hectically swerve the vehicle back-and-forth as an attempt to avoid the trees ahead of her.

“Will!” Max shrieked; all she could see was the endless forest of trees; there was no sign of an opening that led to road or path of any kind. She was itching for him to say something, anything. She grimaced when she felt the side of the car scrape against a tree beside them; she kept her foot on the gas – she couldn’t afford to stop; she was afraid that the Bad Men would catch up to them if she did. She looked behind, through the rearview mirror. Lucas and Dustin held onto each other, screaming for their dear life as Max narrowly avoided the trees that were quickly approaching them.

“Right! Turn right!” Will finally said. He tried clutching his nose to avoid the blood from tattering his jacket, but his furious nose-bleed dripped on the garment as well as his lap. What scared Will was that he wasn’t consciously doing any of this, it inexplicably just came to him.

Max immediately turned right, her eyes wide when she saw a clearing, leading to another road. The car jumped up, causing them all to jump up once again from the sudden change in terrain.

“Lucas, do something!” Dustin screamed beside him. The Power and Energy vans were still on their tail as they had exited the forest too.

“I’m trying!” Lucas yelled back, knowing that Dustin wanted him to create an illusion on the Bad Men behind them.

Max gritted her teeth, sliding to the side of the road to bypass a car that was moving slowly ahead of them. Mike could only look on with cluelessness as he had no idea where they were going – he too had to trust Will’s instinct on this. From his profuse nosebleed, he was expending a lot of the energy he had left.  

Dustin saw that the vans behind them came to an abrupt stop, the screeching noise of the vans unbearable to hear through their closed windows. Lucas sat still as Max continuously swerved the car, increasingly slamming her foot on the accelerator. His nose, too, was beginning to bleed.

Ahead of them, the Bad Men looked upwards, a makeshift barrier emerging from the terrain of the road. The wall quickly grew, obstructing their way and blocking them from driving forward.

_CRASH!_

Max’s and Mike’s concentration were immediately peeled from Lucas’ focused self and onto the road ahead of them.

They had slammed headfirst into another Power and Energy van, the police car coming to a stop.

“Oh shit…” Mike’s breath hitched.

Max didn’t have time to recollect the fact that another Power and Energy van seemingly emerged out of nowhere because the window door behind Mike was immediately shattered. She shrieked from the sudden loud noise.

They all saw Bad Men from all sides of their vehicle, surrounding them. The remaining windows on all sides of their vehicle were smashed.

“Mike! Will!” Max screamed, seeing the two boys being taken out of the vehicle by the Bad Men. She tried reaching out for the oldest, but she had no luck getting ahold of him.

When the other Bad men tried grabbing a hold of the remaining three in the car, they saw flames erupt from the vehicle. They suddenly backed away. Lucas could feel himself getting lightheaded as he conjured up another illusion.

With the men distracted, the restrained Mike spoke up.

“Go! Get out of here!” He shouted. He could feel his hands pried together by something, he was unable to move them apart. Will was just as restrained.

“But Mike-!” Dustin shouted; they couldn’t just leave the other two.

“I said go!” He shouted.

Max frantically looked back at Mike and then at Dustin. She could see a very lightheaded Lucas, blood rapidly emerging out of the boy’s nostrils. He was trying his best to hold up the powerful illusion to save time.

As Lucas was losing sight of his illusion, the Bad Men could see that the flames were beginning to die down. Max bit her bottom lip and steered out of the van’s way. She quickly pressed her foot on the accelerator.

Mike’s heartbeat rose as he saw the police car zoom out of sight.

He had hoped he didn’t just make a huge mistake.

“We have two of them!” He could hear one of the bad men say. Mike looked to the right and saw Will's eyes on him, trepidation and disquiet at the current situation they were in. He trembled, his hands tightly restrained – his characteristic guilt and unsureness of his decisions were coming back. He was close to blaming himself for all of this as he was the one who gave Max the directions to this particular road.

“M-Mike-” Will stopped himself when one of the Bad Men interrupted.

“If any of you try to escape, we won’t hesitate to shoot you with the real gun. Do you understand?”

From the corner of his eye, Mike could see an actual revolver holstered onto the Bad Man’s belt buckle. Without any moment to spare, Mike heard a swoosh noise. From the corner of his eye, he saw an arrow embedded on the side of his neck.

A sudden bout of dizziness came about, causing the boy to fall on his side.

Within seconds, everything became dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhh I love leaving chapters off at cliffhangers. 
> 
> P.S: Chapter 9 is probably going to be the longest one yet.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here’s the (I think) longest chapter so far. 
> 
> Thank you all so much for the feedback for the chapter 8. I really want to say more about what I have planned for my future chapters but I’m afraid it’ll end up with me giving out several spoilers lmaoo 
> 
> Enjoy!

“Mike!”

His entire body felt frigid, the uncomfortable sensation keeping him in a state of distraction from the soft voice that called his name. In a matter of seconds, he heard repetitive knocking sounds against metal. The dark-haired boy opened his eyes, the noise fully waking him up. He saw metal bars ahead of him and dimly lit lights above. From his periphery, he could see another person in a similarly shaped cage beside him. He stood upwards, trying to ignore the aching of his stiff muscles.

It immediately hit him when he saw who that person was. His face lit up, relief and happiness engulfing him.

“El!” His voice coming out more hushed than usual. He could barely speak, his throat feeling uncomfortably dry. He saw the girl in a hospital gown that barely covered her knees while he himself remained in his regular clothes. The curls of her brown hair were clearly disheveled and her face was left bruised with the bruises extending to her arms and legs. The state she was in was absolutely dreadful. The grogginess in her eyes and the dark-circles that laid under them alongside her clearly freezing state added to that. The area below her nose was tinted bright red from residual blood, it was clear they were over-working her from the experiments they did.

Mike could barely reach over to her as they were both locked in cages. He imagined how cold she must have felt. Mike was still wrapped up in his jacket, sweater, and jeans and he was freezing, he could only imagine how cold Eleven felt in the thin fabric of the short gown they changed her into. He felt an outpour of anger come about, fury at what these people did to her.

“Are you okay?” Mike managed to ask, looking at the exhausted girl.

“Yes,” Eleven nodded, giving him a reassuring smile, “I’m a little tired, but I’m fine.”

Mike knew she was understating the current condition she was in – she clearly didn’t want the other to worry too much. Eleven knew they had a lot more problems on their plate as they were clearly back in Hawkins Lab, in one of the dreary, poorly lit basement rooms. Aside from the cages that they were in, the room consisted of storage boxes and shelves filled with supplies. It was then Mike realized he was also taken with Will. He looked to the right of him, not seeing a cage beside his. His heartrate rose.

“Where’s Will?”

When Eleven was about to answer Mike, the latter heard a knock above him, imitating what Eleven did earlier.

“I’m right above you, Mike,” His voice coming from a cage that was stacked over his. He was unable to see the younger boy, but he was relieved that the other two were right next to him; it would have been stress-inducing if they were placed in separate rooms.

“Is your shoulder alright?”

Mike bit his lip, his best friend was often one to worry about others – putting their wellbeing ahead of his own.

“…Everywhere hurts, but it’s not too bad. It could be worse,” Mike replied to Will, “What about you?”

A pause.

“I’m fine,” Will replied.

Mike could sense the agitation in his voice, but he didn’t press further. Will was clearly scared. Like him, he was currently reliving the horrific and traumatic experience of their time spent in the lab.

“Where are the others?”

Mike switched his attention to the cage beside him, Eleven was peering through the bars, a worried expression on her features. Shortly after she saw that a knocked out Will and Mike were hastily locked in their cages, she noticed the other three weren’t with them. Mike’s train of thought suddenly shifted to the moment when he yelled at Max to leave off without them, her pressing the gas petal and the police car zooming out of his and Will’s sight.

“They escaped,” Mike uttered, “They escaped before the Bad Men could get them.”

“…That’s good,” Eleven managed to say, thankful that at least some of them were out of the lab’s grasp. Like Mike, she silently hoped that the other three were formulating some sort of plan to rescue them.

They retreated to silence, Mike once again examining the room that they were in. They were the only ones inside, residing in cramped cages, like animals. There were no sign of other “numbers” or young children like them with special powers who were also of experimental interest. It was weird; it was far from uncommon to see others when they were brought into rooms like this. Mike wanted to use this as an opportunity to escape, but he knew the lab workers would have been alerted the moment they broke out of the (probably) locked door to that led out of the room.

Eleven’s face suddenly lit up.

“Guys, I have something to tell you-”

She was interrupted by the sudden opening of the door.

Their heads whipped around, noticing a group of men and women in lab coats enter the room. Will suddenly grunted in pain when he felt a stabbing pain enter through his head as if someone suddenly impaled him there. Above Mike, the youngest crawled into fetal position, shutting his eyes closed and clutching his head. Eleven looked up towards Will, confusion at the sudden flood of pain he felt.

“Will, what’s wrong-”

Mike noticed Eleven abruptly stopped mid-sentence. He, too, suddenly froze.

His face paled when he saw Jim Hopper walk behind the lab workers.    


\---------  


Numerous thoughts ran through Mike’s mind when he saw the officer make their way towards them. He sat there, unable to say anything. For all those months, he thought the man was dead, disappearing without a single trace. But here he was, before his very own eyes. He was physically here. Nothing seemed to make sense anymore.

He looked at Eleven who in return gave him an apprehensive look. It was as if she knew something that he or Will didn’t, something that she was about to tell them before the lab workers burst into the room. Mike looked back ahead, his irises shifting. All he could do was look ahead in shock.

Mike’s heartbeat rose when Hopper stopped in front of his cage. The boy realized that he was wearing a hospital uniform, a lab coat overlaying it. _Why?_

“I’ve missed all of you so much,” Hopper finally said.

“…Those six months really felt like a six year long wait, didn’t they?”

Mike briefly opened his mouth, but no words came out. He looked beside him and saw that Eleven had turned around, her back facing Hopper. For some reason she didn’t want to look the man in the eye. He took note of this since Eleven’s body language was very telling. Mike, too, could sense the very different cadence to Hopper’s voice. He sounded different, the way he carried himself was different – even if he physically looked the same as when they last saw him…minus the lab coat. There was also his emotionally distant demeanor – he didn’t seem to look very emotive when seeing Mike for the first time in months.

All of a sudden, questions barreled through Mike’s mind. But he still couldn’t speak.

“I have something important to say to you,” He continued.

Mike’s eyes darkened. To his surprise, he couldn’t trust Hopper. His unusually calm character towards him and the other two being locked up in cages was peculiar. The old Hopper would have beaten the Bad Men standing behind them to a pulp and opened them all up so they could escape.

He tensed when he saw Hopper use the keys to unlock the cage. The officer unlatched the key lock, motioning Mike to get out. He hesitated, giving Hopper a guarded expression. Although there was no explicit indication, everything about this felt wrong. However, Mike needed answers. He was clueless for a myriad of reasons. Why was he brought back here by the Bad Men even if Brenner seemingly didn’t want them? Why was Hopper casually speaking with them?

It was then Mike reluctantly crawled out of the cage, his muscles stiff and sore. He stole quick glances at Eleven who gave him a confused look. He turned to Will who looked as if he was feeling under the weather, his sudden headache not settling. The youngest still mustered his strength to look at Mike, shaking his head – uneasiness present. Mike knew Will didn’t want him to go. He had also garnered the same suspicions that Mike had.

But something else told him he would be filled with regret if he didn’t proceed to get answers from Hopper.

Mike gave Will a reassuring glance and mouthed ‘I’ll be okay’ before he reluctantly followed Hopper out of the room.

  
\--------  


Mike walked behind Hopper through a brightly lit hallway. Beside him he could see the entrances which led into separate laboratories, some of which conducted side experiments on him and his friends. The strong, chemical scent from those rooms infiltrated his sinuses and he could feel a bout of nausea come about. Adding on to his discomfort was the complete silence between the two. Hopper turned left until he reached a locked door at the end of the hallway that intersected the previous one. With another key in his possession, he opened it. After turning on the lights, he motioned Mike to go inside first in which he did.

He entered a small office-like room. It was warm and inviting compared to the freezing cold hallways.

“You can take a seat,” Hopper said, he gestured to table where two chairs sat across from each other.

Mike slowly pulled up the chair, hesitating for a moment. He could feel his second-thoughts remerging, almost starting to regret following Hopper all the way to this room, but he quickly ignored them and sat down. He watched Hopper take the seat across from him. The dark-haired teen could feel his fists tense up as his heartbeat became rapid.

“Why didn’t you tell us you were alive all this time?”

There was some confusion to the anger in Mike’s voice. Hopper looked at the boy in surprise; that was the first sentence he said to him all this time. Mike kept his stare on him, waiting for the cop to answer. There was a sense of betrayal that he felt towards Hopper, one that he couldn’t quite pinpoint.

“There are a lot of reasons why I couldn’t,” Hopper replied, “But that’s not the point of why I asked you to come here.”

The younger frowned, no longer looking Hopper in the eyes. His stare was suddenly glued onto the marble table in front of him.

“So am I just supposed to assume that you’re with them now?” Mike uttered, his voice weaker. He felt a tear in his voice, his emotions barreling in. He couldn’t believe that he himself managed to say that to his most trusted caretaker…or the man who used to be his most trusted caretaker. Mike at least hoped that emotionally charged question would get Hopper to give him much needed answers.

“No,” Hopper briefly said, the lack of emotion in his voice not matching Mike’s sensitive tone, “…I’m honestly not sure where to start. There’s a lot I want to explain, there’s not enough time at the moment to.”

Mike bit his bottom lip, to keep it from trembling.

“With time, everything will start to make sense, kid. You’ll understand why this is happening.”

He could feel himself grow all the more uncomfortable. Hopper not sounding like himself added to that. His habitually wiped his clammy hands on the edge of his jeans.

“I talked to El earlier, before you and Will were brought here,” The officer continued, “I told her…”

Mike waited; he waited for him to finish that blasted sentence.

“…I told her that all of this was a test. From the moment you all escaped, all of it has been a test.”

The younger couldn’t speak, his disturbance amplified. For a second, he thought this was some sort of twisted, sick joke…but regardless of the way Hopper sounded – a shadow of his former self – his eyes showed sincerity.

“You, El, Will, Lucas, Dustin, Max…the six of you did well,” Hopper finally said, “I’m proud of you guys.”

Mike’s twinge of anger came back. Instead them being children to be cared for, it was almost as if they were all pawns of his instead. It was suddenly coming together. From the way things looked, Hopper had planned all of this while he masqueraded as someone who was on their side, someone to be trusted. Mike blinked several times as he felt water gather in his eyes. His fingers tightly gripped the cushion of the chair he sat on.

“You’re just like the rest of them,” He uttered, “…You’re just like Brenner.”

Hopper was taken aback, the malice of Mike’s voice almost deterring him. He recalled the moment Eleven said similar words to him hours before Mike and Will were brought to the lab. Hopper realized her lingering temper had never left her as it continued to not be completely overtaken by her usual soft-spoken and quiet demeanor.

_‘You are like Papa!’ She cried._

_‘…I’m nothing like that psychotic son of a bitch,’ Hopper only said, his calm façade almost cracking._

Mike could only make that same inference. He was clearly in lab uniform, he was walking alongside the Bad Men, he ostensibly wasn’t angry that they were locked up in cages, and he didn’t seem angry at the inhumane treatment that Eleven received during her time here. Hopper looked around, seemingly double-checking to see if he removed any devices that were once installed in the particular office room they currently resided in.

“If you can tell me where the others are…if you guys can trust me, we can put an end to this – permanently.”

It was clear what he meant. Mike once again looked him in the eyes. The old Hopper, they could trust without a doubt, but Mike knew something was off with this one. He was only speaking in vague language, not communicating sufficient details. From what Mike could infer, he seemed like he wanted to destroy Hawkins Laboratory…with the help of him and the other five. However, Mike knew better to not to let his conviction overtake his rationality when he had second-thoughts. Hopper taught him that. For all he knew, this was probably a trap.

“You can take all the time to think it over,” He finished, “I’m not here to force you to do anything.”

He stood up to help a visibly shaken Mike from his chair. He nearly recoiled when he felt the officer’s hand on his back. Mike couldn’t blame himself, it was as if Hopper was a stranger again – a stranger among many that they couldn’t place their limited trust upon. They walked in silence back to the warehouse-room. He noticed Will and Eleven looking up at Mike, inquisitive looks etched on their faces, they clearly wanted to know what Hopper said to him. Hopper then unlatched Mike’s and waited for the boy to get inside before closing and locking it again.

"Mike," Hopper whispered, "Trust me. That's all I ask. Just trust me."

Mike remained silent as the entirety of the brief conversation they just had played in his head, over and over again, like a broken record. No matter how honest the Hopper attempted to sound, Mike could only take his words with a grain of salt – his statements sounded too outrageous for him to take in. Ever since Hopper took them under their wing, they lived a fairly peaceful life – believing that the cop died, after he so suddenly left them. All of a sudden he’s back, here to tell him that they needed to unequivocally trust him if they never wanted to have a single worry about the lab’s control over them, ever again.

All of these thoughts continued to bombard Mike’s mind after he watched Hopper walk out of the room, his steps echoing against the near silence of the storage-space. Ahead of him, he could still see those dreaded Bad Men, quiet murmurs among them, seeming to plan their next move.

“What happened?” Will asked from above, breaking the silence, “What did he say to you?”

Mike absently squeezed the bars of his cage. He paused; he didn’t have a clue on whether to tell Will out in the open like this. He looked at Eleven; she too knew what Hopper wanted out of them.

“Mike?”

“Nothing important,” He said. Eleven glanced at Mike, surprised that he wasn’t being truthful to Will out of all people.

“You’re lying.”

Will’s voice didn’t sound angry. It was strangely neutral, a slight tinge of disappointment added to it. Mike was surprised at Will’s sudden boldness. Normally, the soft-spoken boy would have retreated to silence after he took a hint at Mike’s terse and uncomfortable reply. From above, Will sat back, his sweltering curiosity had surged since Hopper appeared and asked Mike to come with him. He wanted to know what the hell was going on.

“Whatever he said to me doesn’t matter,” Mike managed to say.

“Why?” Will pressed.

“…Because we can’t trust him.”

Will frowned, not appreciative of Mike’s brief answers. However, he couldn’t disagree much with his last statement. The boy instead curled up, his knees below his chin, retreating to silence. He didn’t want to make too much of a commotion because there were several lab workers within feet of them.    


\-----------

  
Several hours went by, mostly in silence as the three kept their eyes glued onto the workers. The three had a lot more to say to each other, but the watchful eye that the lab had on them prevented them from doing that. Mike laid on his back, his legs folded as the cage-space didn’t allow for him to fully stretch his tall stature. He absently thought of what Lucas, Dustin, and Max were doing at the moment. He was hopeful that they were way out of sight of the Bad Men.

Will wrapped his knuckles on the metal floor of his cage, catching Eleven’s and Mike’s attention. Eleven glanced up at Will’s direction while Mike was all ears as he couldn’t see the youngest. Will quickly wiped his nose, feeling his persistent headache remerge once again. He ignored this.  

_They’re coming to us._

Will had slowly mouthed those words to Eleven. For a second the brunette was confused, but she quickly caught on. She nodded, a relieved smile on her features. Mike raised his eyebrows at Eleven, wondering what Will had said.

Eleven quickly glanced at the Bad Men before looking at Mike to relay the news.

“Coming,” Eleven quietly said, her smile growing wide, “The others.”

Mike couldn’t help but to smile back, a wave of reassurance following him. His smile immediately diminished when he heard the door open again. Mike pulled himself up, watching Brenner come in with more lab workers. He absently felt his fists beside him curl. Eleven expressed the same silent anger, her gleeful expression changing into a glower as she glared daggers at the lead scientist. Will squeezed his eyes shut as he felt his headache get worse once again. He bit onto the inside of his bottom lip, trying not to let out any whimpers of pain. He didn’t want to worry Mike or Eleven when they had another problem right in front of them.

“Why do we only have three of them?” Brenner’s voice was angry.

He had the full attention of the other lab workers, nervous expressions on their faces.

“Subjects 007, 009, and 010 escaped,” One of them said, their head bowed down in shame.

“I want you to call backup to search for them,” Brenner said, “Immediately.”

“We can’t.”

“And why is that?”

“One of them removed the tracker from the Blazer,” He replied.

Mike frowned. _A tracker?_ Did Hopper purposely have one installed in the police Blazer? Is that why they were able to be tracked down so easily? The dark-haired boy felt his resentment against the man they thought they could relay their entire trust on grow. He must done that so the lab could have them under their watchful eye. It was then he was sure that all this time, Hopper must have been working with them. He only provided the six with the care and love he instilled so he could have them all under his grasp…under the lab’s grasp. Did Hopper convince Brenner to bring the remaining five after they initially kidnapped Eleven? Mike suddenly wished he could have used the chance he had alone with Hopper to yell all kinds of obscenities at him – for betraying them all and for taking him as a fool. His eyes were glossy and his fists were curled tighter. He was impeccably livid at the man they thought they could treat as a father.

“Dr. Brenner, are you sure you want to proceed with this?” One of the lab workers asked him. He spoke in a hushed tone in which Eleven and Will were unable to hear. They were only able to register their voices as mumbles since the workers settled into a faraway corner of the room. The youngest two looked at each other, confusion amongst their faces.

Mike concentrated in on their conversation, easily able to hear them all.

“Yes, I’m certain,” He replied, “We’ll find some other way to get the other three. We can’t let them stay out of our hold. There’s a good chance we’ll be found out if we continue to do so.”

Another lab worker sighed, “It’s a shame. Our experiments with them were interesting while they lasted.”

“If we can’t get anything of use out of subject 011, what makes us think we can get anything out of the others?” The first lab worker said.

“Does this mean we’re ruling out the DNA assays…?”

Mike drowned out their voices; he habitually touched the bottom of his nose, feeling a damp sensation as a small amount of blood trickled out of his right nostril. The ominous tone to their voices and what they were saying screamed danger to him. He was afraid to say ‘what’ exactly but he knew they were going to do something horrific to all of them…if they didn’t escape soon...if the other three didn’t conjure up a genius plan and get to them quick enough.

The three continued to sit in silence when they watched Brenner leave the room alone after he told the other Bad Men he was going to return shortly. Mike almost jumped up when he noticed one of the Bad Men reached them and unlatched Eleven’s cage. He motioned Eleven to come out before unlatching the locks in Mike’s and Will’s cages. They confusingly looked up at the man who hadn’t said a thing to them. Mike could hear his beating heart. Were they going to do whatever horrific thing they had planned right now?

“What are you doing with them?” Another Bad Man said from the corner of the room.

“Brenner instructed me to take them for last minute blood samples,” He said; his voice was strangely familiar but Mike ignored that. He was too preoccupied with the sudden panic from what would possibly happen to him and the other two.

“Follow me and don’t do anything funny,” He looked at the three.

Will stood between Eleven and Mike as they reluctantly followed the man out of the room. When they reached the empty hallway, Eleven looked all around her – making sure there were no other Bad Men in their proximity. That was when she spoke up.

“Dustin, is that you?”

Mike and Will raised their eyebrows.

“Shh!” The “Bad Man” said, afraid that someone lurking would hear them. That was when he nodded. Eleven immediately smiled, resisting the urge to let out a full grin. She was triumphant, able to recognize his voice through his transformation.

“We have to walk fast…Lucas and Max are waiting in the car,” Dustin quietly said.

“Okay,” Mike said, trying his hardest to hide his budding excitement and relief. He was so, so thankful…thankful that they were able to get to them in time, thankful they could bypass the tough security of the building, thankful that Dustin was able to find them in this particular room.

They turned a sharp left, entering another hallway. Adrenaline was coursing through them as they kept quiet. Will was stiff, his anxiety growing. Dustin made sure to stay in the back to keep a watch on them, so he would look like he was taking them as prisoners instead of as someone who was breaking them out. They went up a stairwell that was perpendicular to the middle of the hallway.

When Dustin came across two revolving doors that led outside, he extended his hand to push them open. That was when Mike pulled him back by the shoulder.

“Brenner…I can hear Brenner outside,” He said.

They instantly turned the other way to hide somewhere. That was when they found a door that led to a janitorial supply closet. Before the revolving doors could open, the four enclosed themselves in the closet – staying out of sight. Not long after, they heard the sound of the doors swinging open and footsteps clambering against the floor of the hallway.

Mike situated himself to the front beside Eleven who was on her tip-toes, peering through the checkered peep hole of the door. Mike squinted his eyes, looking through it as well. They saw Brenner, Hopper, and other lab workers come to a stop.

“What’s going on?” Dustin asked from behind, still in “disguise” as one of the Bad Men.

He couldn’t see as Mike and Eleven completely blocked the peep hole. They four adults were in a circle, their faces deep in conversation. Hopper nodded when Brenner launched a few words his way – Mike was able to hear them perfectly well but they were speaking in unfamiliar scientific terms. The more they saw Hopper, the more their initial suspicions intensified. Seeing Hopper politely speak to Brenner brought a twisting sensation in Eleven’s stomach.

Mike’s eyes widened when he saw Brenner suddenly face their way.

“Shit, get down!” Mike hissed, his voice barely audible.

He and Eleven immediately crouched down, their heartrates rising. They hoped Brenner did not just see them through that peephole.

“…Did he see us??” Dustin barely whispered.

“Shh!” Eleven said, her index finger over her mouth. She felt like her heart was going to pop out of her chest any minute.

Their luck was compromised when they heard footsteps come closer towards them. Mike furrowed his brows as Eleven pressed her teeth together. Will was visibly shaking while Dustin looked on ahead at the door that was enclosing and hiding them. Dustin repeatedly mouthed ‘ _please don’t open, please don’t open, please don’t open_ ’.

It was suddenly silent.

Will pressed his lips together, trying not to let out any shaky breaths.

They suddenly heard the ‘clack-ing’ sounds of the footsteps get quieter and quieter. That was when Will, Eleven, and Dustin let out relieved sighs, their shoulders relaxing alongside their crouched forms.

“Guys-”

Mike was stopped when the door was suddenly pulled open.

Their eyes were wide open as they saw Brenner stand at the edge of the opened closet door.

“You guys are getting better at this, aren’t you?” The scientist said, trying to hide his growing frustrated. He looked down at Mike who kept his surprised stare on him. Beside the dark-haired boy, Eleven glowered at the man – her normally warm brown eyes as menacing as she could make them. Will partially hid himself behind Dustin, his shaking form worse. Lastly, Dustin’s power had dwindled, him transforming back to his normal self. It was clear he kept his disguise on for a very long time since splotches of blood from his nostrils decorated the closet floor next to him.

Eleven tugged on Mike’s shirt.

He quickly looked at her before she gave him a nod. Mike nodded back.

Before Brenner could get a hold of Eleven, Eleven quickly flung her hands forwards. Brenner instantly zoomed backwards, his back slamming the wall behind him. He grunted as a sharp pain from his back emerged due to the hard collision.

The four immediately shot upwards, running for their dear life.

Brenner quickly reached in his pocket, attempting to grab the “tinnitus” device he used on them just days ago. His eyes widened when he realized it suddenly flew out of his pocket and into Eleven’s hands.

“Get them!” Brenner shouted, a grimace on his face, “Call for back-up!”

The four looked back and saw two of the lab workers chase after them. Mike forcibly pushed through the revolving doors, accidently causing them to tip over from the sheer strength. The loud thud of the tall doors against the concrete startled them as they ran quick, reaching outside. The cool, but fresh air was a relieving contrast to the saturated chemical smells they were subjected to. However, Eleven was freezing as she was the only one wearing a patient gown, the thin fabric barely protecting her skin. Her being barefoot didn’t help either.

In a matter of seconds, they heard the loud blaring of alarms – the same exact sound they heard when they first escaped. They could barely hear anything over the loud screeching noise of the alarm, it was absolute torment to hear that jarring noise again.  The memories spiraled through their minds as they zoomed across the grassy area, making sure not to fumble on any of their steps. They tried not to reflect on those, they had to focus on getting the hell out of the lab and its premises. Below them, they could see reflections of red decorate the ground, the obnoxious alarm lights from the building illuminating the grass.

“Mike, towards you!” Will shouted. He ran alongside an exhausted Eleven, pulling her by the hand as she was losing traction with the other three.

They shot their glances towards a ‘Power and Energy’ van that was barreling towards them. Eleven removed her grip from Will’s before jerking both her arm sideways. She grunted in exhaustion as the large van suddenly tipped over, moments before it could run over Mike who was closest to it.

“Fuck!” Dustin cursed, seeing several ‘Power and Energy’ vans behind them, the vehicles speeding. Following Dustin, Mike and Will picked up their speed. Eleven’s running became slower and slower, her depleted energy catching up to her.

Will looked back, seeing Eleven trail behind them. He immediately rushed back and grabbed her by the arm again.

“Mike!” Will shouted, him pulling Eleven by the arm wasn’t helping as she was too exhausted to move much.

Mike turned back and saw the other two running towards them – Eleven’s exhausted form taking him aback. He ran back and effortlessly scooped Eleven in his arms. They resumed running behind Dustin.

“We’re almost there!” Dustin shouted, “This way!”

Before they could turn around into an alleyway, a familiar voice stopped them.

“Mike! Stop, please!”

Hopper.

They all suddenly came to a stop and saw the officer jump out of the passenger seat of one of the ‘Power and Energy’ vans. It was the only van there – the others away from their sight as the four stood at the entrance of the alley. Mike’s eyes widened, but soon narrowed. He couldn’t let Hopper catch him off guard, but he inconveniently felt those familiar, sentimental emotions surface again.

To Mike’s surprise, Hopper didn’t sound angry…he sounded disappointed.

“Mike, you have to trust me…you guys have to trust me,” Hopper pleaded, slowly walking closer to them.

Mike instinctively placed himself in front of the other three after letting Eleven down. He wasn’t going to let Hopper anywhere near them…not anymore. He was going to be the one to take care of the others and protect them from people like the Bad Men and dishonest people like Hopper.

“All of this, all of this was a test,” He continued, “You were safe here, nothing bad was going to happen to you guys…you were perfectly safe here.”

He could sense that Hopper was losing his grip of stability; the usually calm and collected man was losing that façade. He was almost on the verge of blowing into hysterics, but he was carefully keeping those emotions bottled up. Mike, Will, Eleven, and Dustin silently looked at each other – Dustin was more in a phase of shock, seeing Hopper for the first time did that to him.

“…That’s all you ever do,” Mike began, loud enough for Hopper to hear over the sirens, “All you ever do is lie.”

Mike continued to stare at him. He was the man who saved their lives more than a year ago; he clothed them, fed them, and taught them important life skills. He was the closest thing they ever had to a parent. However, he was giving them mixed signals. They were in no position to trust him right now.

“You have to let me explain,” He continued; he glanced at Eleven, “El? You can trust me, can’t you?”

Eleven shook her head before she backed away further behind Mike. Her face was resolute; there was no indication she was changing her mind.

“…Dustin? Will?”

They didn’t answer, they had same look of firmness that Eleven had.

Mike’s face trembled, the tense silence making them all the more uncomfortable. Mike could have sworn he felt his eyes water. He felt Will put a comforting hand on his shoulder, knowing just how conflicted Mike was feeling right now...his whirlwind of emotions not leaving him anytime soon.

They could suddenly hear the sounds of the other vehicles coming closer.

“…We have to go,” Dustin solemnly said, nudging Mike on the shoulder.

Mike nodded.

He gave Hopper one last look who in return kept his pleading expression, silently telling them to stay, silently telling them that he was the only one they could trust. Mike suddenly tore his gaze away from the officer.

_Goodbye, Hopper._

They quickly followed Dustin through the alley, this time not looking back.  


\----------   


“Shoot! Where are they?” Lucas cried, nervously bouncing his leg as he sat up in the front passenger seat of the car. Beside him, Max kept her foot on the brake, keeping her line of sight on the rearview mirror. There was no sign of the other four.

The police car was stopped alongside an alleyway with numerous garbage bins lined up amongst it. The windows were still broken and the front of the car was slightly bent with one of the headlights cracked from the head-on collision they had with a ‘Power and Energy’ van before Mike and Will were taken from them.

“We’re in deep shit if they really caught Dustin-”

Lucas stopped when he saw Max lean out of the window.

“Come on! Come on!” She suddenly yelled.

She saw that Mike and the others suddenly appeared, turning into the alleyway they resided in.   
They ran towards the Blazer, at lightning speed, the minute they heard Max’s voice. Dustin pulled the back door open, letting Mike settle Eleven down on one of the backseats. They saw Will open the other back door climbing inside of it before Mike followed.

Dustin’s eyes widened when he saw Bad Men emerge through the alleyway.

“Come on Dustin, get in!” Mike shouted.

The curly haired boy immediately jumped inside the vehicle and slammed the door shut.

“Go!” Lucas shouted.

Before one of the Bad Men could pull up their revolver gun to shoot them, Max slammed on the accelerator. The car zoomed through the alleyway, the six flinching when they saw a bullet hit the back windshield. Without seatbelts, the four in the back jumped as Max roughly drove from smooth terrain into leveled, rocky concrete that ended the alley. She made a jerky turn, crashing through numerous safety cones that lined a parking lot.

Beside her, Lucas yelled at oncoming people to get out of the way when they reached the middle of the parking lot.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Max cried, “W-what do I do?!?”

Dustin peered beside Lucas to see what Max’s sudden commotion was about. Will and Mike leaned towards the middle to get a better look through the front windshield, avoiding their pressed together forms from the tight space.

They could see a traffic blocker slowly emerging from the ground of the exit that would let them exit the premises of the lab. If it grew high enough, their car would be blocked from leaving.

“Floor it! You have to floor it!” Dustin said, nervously gripping onto the headrest of Lucas’ seat.

Max pressed on the accelerator even more, if that was possible. The car was going a generous 80 miles per hour as they were zooming towards the yellow and white traffic blocker that was growing from the ground. Their backs were pressed against their seats due to the sudden increase in speed.

Lucas squeaked when they felt harsh bump under them. After driving over the traffic blocker, Max made another turn, the jerky motion almost causing the car to spin. That was when they entered the main road and eventually out of the premises of Hawkins Lab. Max kept the car at a fast speed, making sure none of the lab workers would catch up to them.

When they were a reasonable distance away from the building, relief washed over them all of them as were out of the lab’s clutches, including Eleven. Mike looked back, seeing themselves drive further and further away from ‘Hawkins Nation Laboratory – U.S Department of Energy’ sign.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's your favorite chapter of this fic so far? (and why, if you wanna answer that - im really curious)


	10. Chapter 10

The six has decided an hour’s distance from the lab was enough to steer clear of the Bad Men. By then, Max swung the car into the forest next to them. They drove deep into an isolated area, completely hidden from the main road. It resembled the one they resided in at Mirkwood, but this particular area was noticeably spacious, the trees giving them more than enough space to park the vehicle. Without any tracker installed in the Blazer, there was no way the Bad Men could locate and find them so easily. When they came to a stop, the six of them promptly got out of the car. Eleven pulled down the bottom of Mike’s jacket, trying to extend the oversized garment below her bare knees. It was no use as it wouldn’t go down any further; she was going to have to brave the cold and her barefootedness…for now.

She was taken aback when Max suddenly hugged her, solace overtaking the girl. She was relieved that her best friend was here, that they were able to get her back. Eleven willingly hugged her back, a smile gracing her features.

“I almost thought we’d never see you again!” Max spoke up. Since she had been driving the entire time, she never had a proper chance to do this earlier. The red-head’s voice was filled to the brim with emotion, sheer contentment written all over it.

“…Me too, I missed all of you,” She replied, after they broke their hug. She was almost on the brink of losing hope when she was too exhausted to move much after the lab overworked her. Days had passed before the others reached her, but she persisted – never completely losing her optimism. She smiled again, “But I’m here and that’s all that matters right now.”

Lucas and Dustin were next to give the brunette a tight group hug. Eleven felt warm inside, to see her friends again, to be warm in their embrace, and to feel that familiar sense of wellbeing she had when she was with them at all times.

“What did they do to you exactly?” Dustin curiously asked, taking notice of the healing bruises on Eleven’s face and her tired form.

“So many awful things,” She replied, “I don’t want to go into details; I want to put that behind me.”  

“Right, of course,” Dustin understood her request. He, too, wanted to do the same, especially after the tragic encounter they had with Hopper. Lucas and Max had also been told after they drove a good distance from the lab.

Mike had told Eleven about the injuries he amassed, explaining the reason why they were so late to get to her. He told her about the woman who nursed him and cared for him as if he were her own son. She insisted that Mike didn’t need to apologize when he attempted to. She reassured him by saying that it wasn’t his fault for getting injured by those other boys; his incipient guilt kept him from fully realizing that.

A few minutes had passed and Mike had settled himself back in the vehicle. He absently looked over at Eleven and Max who continued conversing with each other, Eleven bombarding Max with questions on her sudden ability to drive. The excited glint to her bright brown eyes was refreshing to see, especially after what she had just gone through. Lucas, Dustin, and Will stood across from them, the boys animatedly describing their second encounter with the Bad Men at the gas station – Lucas excitedly going on about how Max narrowly escaped them with her driving skills. Max playfully punched the former on the shoulder, her way of showing how flustered she was from the praise. It might have been close to a near death experience for the five, but the way they went on about it would almost convince the average listener that they were inside a blockbuster action movie. Eleven’s face would light up and blush from the outrageous affection they showered towards her.

Mike was abruptly reminded about the numerous leftovers that Joyce left in his possession. He quickly went back inside the car, looking for the backpack that the woman had given him. Eleven must have been starving; she needed a full meal.

“Hey, guys!” Mike waved from inside, breaking the others out of their animated conversation. When they gathered themselves beside the vehicle, they saw Mike pull out various food storage containers – tightly sealed and filled to the brim with roasted chicken, vegetables, salad, mac & cheese, and baked potatoes. The others looked on, their stomachs grumbling.

“Is that the food Mrs. Byers gave you?” Will asked.

“Yup,” Mike nodded, he took note of their naturally big appetites, “It’ll last a while, even for all of us.”

They all went back inside the car, ready to eat yet another satisfying meal.   


\---------  


It was 6:21 when Mike woke up. The sun had barely risen so it was quite dark inside the car. He frowned when he noticed that Will wasn’t seated in the front passenger seat next to him…it was empty. His momentary lapse of panic quickly vanished when he saw Will sitting on top of the hood, staring at nothing in particular – aside from the barely lit forest. He looked deep in focus though, his mind probably preoccupied with the events that piled on in the past day – being kidnapped by the Bad Men, seeing Hopper, rescuing Eleven, and escaping Hawkins Lab for the second time.

Mike briefly looked to the back of him, seeing the other four cramped together, but fast asleep. Max and Eleven snuggled against each other, using Mike’s coat as a covering to warm them up. To their right, Lucas leaned back, his head comfortably resting against the headrest. Dustin had leaned against the window, his hat almost slipping off of him. He couldn’t help but to smile at the sight. His friends were safely cooped up together, comfortable enough for the first time in days.  

Mike quietly exited the car, making sure not to wake the others up. Will quickly took notice of Mike, the older pushing himself up on the car hood to sit next to him.

“Hey, Mike,” He said, resisting the urge to let out a large smile. Mike’s company inexplicably gave him that urge.

“Hey, Will,” Mike echoed back, his eyes were on the shorter male, “You can’t sleep?”

Will shook his head, “No.”

A gust of wind came about, blowing leaves in their general direction. Mike shivered, his sweater not helping him keep warm.

“I can give you my coat if you want,” Will said; he was already in the process of taking his coat off.

“I’m fine,” Mike replied, stopping him, “You probably need it more than me.”

“I’m still giving it to you,” Will retorted, proceeding to take it off. He handed it to Mike, “You haven’t been wearing one in ages. You’ll catch a cold.”

The older sighed in defeat, before snatching the coat from Will and reluctantly putting it on. Mike knew Will was too concerned about others to the point of neglecting his own welfare, but he couldn’t refuse his friend’s help for some reason. The genuinely worried look on Will’s face wouldn’t let him. The younger smiled, triumphant that Mike didn’t continue to deter his help. They sat together in a comfortable silence, the calm breeze and faint chirping of birds being the only audible noise around them. Will went from dangling his feet off the edge of the vehicle to mirroring Mike’s position, crossing his left ankle over his right.

“Where are we going to go next?” Will spoke up, looking up at Mike. They hadn’t discussed this yet, “I don’t think we can go back home.”

“We can’t,” Mike repeated, “…We need to find a new one. Brenner probably sent a bunch of his guys to our place, in case we go back. And if that happens…they’ll definitely catch us.”

Will looked downwards, sudden fear encapsulating him. Although they had no choice, he didn’t want to leave. There were so many memories he stored from that place. Although he could still think about them on the road, it felt like he was forced to suddenly throw them away. He and his ‘family’ built their sense of self in that place – their interactions: their individual friendships and dynamic as a group of six were solidified in that cabin. Mike, on the other hand, was more receptive to finding what they could call a new ‘home’. He thought residing in the cabin would initiate and intensify dreams having to do with Hopper, especially since the cabin constantly reminded them of the ex-officer. There was no way he needed that.

“Are you okay?”

“Huh? Me?” Mike’s voice snapped Will out of his reverie. He noticed Will’s shaking form, his navy sweater not providing him adequate protection against the cold.

“Who else?” Mike smiled, almost breaking out into a full grin. Will slightly laughed, somewhat embarrassed at that slip-up as the two boys were the only ones outside.

“…I’m kind of cold…I guess,” Will couldn’t finish his sentence as he noticed Mike unzipping the jacket, “Mike I told you I didn’t need-”

He stopped when Mike flipped the coat out behind them and wrapped the article of clothing so it could cover both of them on the back and around their shoulders. Mike silently motioned Will to scoot closer to him so the coat could adequately cover them. A small smile formed on Will’s lips as he was literally squeezed against Mike, their arms pressed against each other. He felt a vastly warmer than he did seconds ago, their body heat adding onto that.

“Better?” Mike asked.

“Much,” Will nodded, suddenly unable to look his friend in the face.

Mike then went back on topic.

“Well, first we need to find some way to get more money, before we worry about that,” He said, “We’re quickly running out.”

“You can thank Max and Dustin for that,” Will replied. When he came back, Mike had been told that the two impulsively spent a chunk of it on fast food. He was a little annoyed but his annoyance quickly diminished due to them having to focus on Eleven.

“I hope you guys enjoyed your McDonalds,” Mike said, the snarky tone in his voice causing to Will to barely stifle in his laughter. The youngest shook his shoulders instead from his silent chuckles, his curled up hand hardly covering his wide smile as he attempted to hide his amusement. Mike couldn’t help but to smile back; sometimes he thought Will was too cute for his own good.

“Sorry,” Will apologized, his smile lingering. He playfully bumped his shoulder against the older boy’s shoulder, “Hey, at least you got to eat a warm dinner cooked from scratch.”

“And breakfast,” Mike replied, bumping Will’s shoulder back with his own.

It was silent between the two once again. Will resumed dangling his sneaker-clad feet, absently tapping Mike’s shoes with his. How he wished they could stay like this forever.

“She sounds amazing, Mike.”

“Who? Mrs. Byers?”

“Yeah,” Will nodded, “She’s like one of those parents you wish you could have as your own.”

“You’d like her a lot if you actually got to meet her in person,” Mike replied.

“I don’t doubt that at all.”

Mike wondered how she and Jonathan were doing ever since he left them. He had initial suspicions about them swiftly changing their mind and calling the police the minute he left their house, but those were whisked away as he felt he could place his full, undivided trust in them. Mike broke out of his thoughts when he felt a sudden weight on his shoulder. He looked to the right of him and saw Will leaned his head towards the crook of his shoulder.  

“Are you sleepy?” Mike asked.

“A little,” He mumbled, surprised at his own sudden action. Mike was his closest friend so they could be comfortably affectionate with each other, but this time it felt different, for some incomprehensible reason. It alluded Will.

“We can go back inside if you want-”

Will raised his head, looking Mike in the eye once again, “Can we stay out here instead?”

Mike paused, a sudden flush of red masking his faint freckles. He was comfortable, the warmth radiating from Will’s coat and their pressed-together proximity.

“Okay.”   


\---------  


After a few hours of adequate sleep, in which they all so desperately needed, they all woke up at the turn of the afternoon. Mike had stayed awake, keeping watch – only because he couldn’t fall back asleep. Will, on the other hand, got a hefty amount of shut-eye, his form comfortably resting against Mike’s. It was something the usually restless boy needed. Much to their relief it wasn’t as cold as it was in previous days, but there was still the uncomfortable cool draft of wind.

“So what’s our next plan of action?” Dustin asked, stretching himself awake. The side of his neck hurt like hell; he attributed that to the uncomfortable sleeping position he woke up in.

“We’re going to get more money,” Mike replied.

“Steal?” Eleven spoke up, knowing that they had no other way to get cash.

“I don’t think we have any other choice,” He shrugged. He looked at Lucas who stood beside him; he was clearly uncomfortable with this. They had just gotten themselves out of trouble, they didn’t want to bring any attention on themselves if they messed it up.

“I don’t feel so good about this,” Lucas shifted.

“Yeah, but what happens when we eventually run out?” Max spoke up. There was also the issue of getting Eleven a new coat and shoes too, “If it’s an emergency, then it’s an emergency.”

“Think of it as assisting the poor,” Dustin added, “Greedy and unreasonably loaded corporations wouldn’t notice if a few items in one of their many stores were stolen.”

“Exactly,” Max replied.

“Uhh I don’t think that’s how it works you guys,” Lucas rolled his eyes, “It’s mostly the low-wage workers that are affected-”

Mike drowned out their voices when they began to conjure up a plan as to how they’d approach their stealing endeavor. Minus Lucas, they were a little too enthusiastic about it, but it was a change from the distressing car ride after barely escaping the lab. He also had to appreciate their meticulousness and how they were able to dive into such plans on the spot.

But before either of them could take a step into the car, they heard a sudden thud.

When they turned back, complete shock enveloped their faces when they saw Will convulsing on the ground.

“Will!” Mike shouted, kneeling down to him.

Will couldn’t say anything, his mouth felt like it was glued shut.

He suddenly cried out in pain when he felt a gigantic surge of pain explode through his head, his convulsing body jerking back on its own. He could barely control himself. It felt like someone was repeatedly slamming a giant hammer against the back of his head.

“M-mike!” He barely squeaked, his eyes squeezed shut. He curled up in fetal position, his hands pressed against his head. He felt salty tears trickle down his cheeks. _Please make it stop!_ He wanted to say, but his mouth wouldn’t allow him to.

All the others could do was stand there and look on in alarm as they had no idea what was going on with Will, his gut-wrenching cries horrifying to hear. Will could barely hear their panicked voices, only registering them as clouded mumbles.

“Make it stop! Please make it stop!” Will managed to mutter the words that he repetitively screamed in his head. He was barely audible, but Mike could hear him. He could feel Mike’s arms wrap around him, but that didn’t help one bit. As seconds passed, he felt the pounding increase in intensity. Behind his closed eyes, he could see frequent bursts of orange and red – they resembled fireworks.

He wailed out in agony when another strike of pain hit him, it feeling like someone had bashed his skull into a million pieces. With his eyes still closed, he suddenly saw lightning fast images shoot though his sight…or rather hallucinations of random buildings, landscapes, unrecognizable people, objects, colors, and nonsensical images.

“Will! Can you hear us?!” Mike noticed the unresponsive Will, still in fetal position, his body shaking.   
  
Mike’s eyes widened when he could see Will’s eyelids blink rapidly, his pupils hidden behind them. Blood was profusely pouring out of his nostrils. Through his sight, Will felt himself zoom rapidly through various pathways of different landscapes – through a forest, a mountainside, and then finally through a city. A building suddenly appeared.

That was when Will snapped his eyes open. His breathing was shaky as he saw Mike keep a tight hold on him. Eleven and Dustin kneeled beside him, Eleven’s hand pressed against his shoulder to comfort him.

Will immediately pushed himself out of Mike’s grip and profusely vomited near a couple of bushes. He began to hyperventilate, unable to bring himself out of his rapidly budding panic. When he felt a hand on his back, he instantly recoiled, trying to remove the sudden touch away from him.

“Will, Will! It’s me!”

When Will turned around and saw Mike, he wrapped his arms around the older boy on impulse, his panic changing into fear. Mike quickly pulled the wide-eyed Will back into a hug.

“It’s okay, you’re going to be okay.”

Will’s breathing was still labored as he tightened his grip on Mike’s sweater, the shock preventing him from saying a single word. Mike also tightened his hold on Will when he could hear the younger’s frantic heartbeat pound against his chest. It was silent for a few moments, the others watching on as Will caught his breath and calmed himself down. Will broke himself out of Mike’s hold and insisted that he was okay after the others continuously asked him.

 “…What just happened?” Lucas looked down at Mike and Will who were still knelt down together on the ground, “Are you starting to have episodes again?”

“I don’t know,” Will shook his head, just as clueless, “…but I’m okay, honest.”

The other five were unconvinced. Aside from Eleven, they hadn’t forgotten the day Will had thrown up copiously due to carsickness. What happened just now seemed like a severe form of that. Mike’s train of thought was fixed on Will suddenly collapsing just moments ago and convulsing on the ground, the boy unable to control himself. There was no way he could brush that off even if Will insisted he was fine.

“Are you sure?” Mike asked, for what seemed to be the hundredth time.

“Yes, Mike.” Will asserted, a halfhearted smile on his face. How he would hate for them to be distressed any more than they already were…because of him, “Maybe those were just episodes, all the stress getting to me and stuff.”

With much reluctance, Mike retreated into silence, before helping Will back up. Will kept his gaze on the ground, guilt harboring him. He wasn’t telling them everything. However, he didn’t want the others to put a sudden stop to their next venture just to concern themselves with his health. He thought it would waste valuable time, and the worst case scenario was that something disastrous could happen – such as what happened to Mike when he got brutally injured, which in turn delayed their trip to Hawkins Lab to save Eleven.

“You think the car-sickness meds will help?” Max asked, grabbing a blister pack of the motion-sickness medication that Mike had bought for Will all those days ago. She had found the medicine carefully tucked in one of the cup rests of the car.

“Come on Max, is this something that happens when you get car-sick?” Dustin spoke up, an exasperated tone to his voice. He looked over at the direction of Will and Mike, the oldest ushering the youngest back into the vehicle to lay down. When Will was out of earshot of them, he continued, speaking in a quieter voice, “He was shaking and going into all sorts of spasms and I don’t think he’s ever done that during an episode either.”

“I’ve never seen him like that too,” Eleven added, her eyes on Will who was lying back, his eyes glued onto the ceiling of the car. It looked like he was deep in thought, as if he had more to say, “He had a really bad headache when we were in the lab.”

“So what do we do then?” Max asked, annoyed by Dustin’s off-handed question, “We obviously can’t go to a doctor. That’s not going to go well for obvious reasons.”

“We wait it out.”

The other three gave Eleven questioned glances. The idea seemed counter-intuitive.

“What if it gets worse?” Lucas asked, “When we were in Mirkwood, Will complained of car-sickness and he vomited like crazy...he hasn’t been feeling well lately, and it only began when we left the house.”

Lucas didn’t want to say it out loud, but a doctor seemed like the only feasible option. He was afraid of what would happen if they left Will untreated. He didn’t want to think about that; seeing his friend suffer like he did moments ago was a very frightening ordeal. He didn’t want to know what it would be like if Will got worse.

“Are you suggesting we go to an actual hospital?” Max could read his mind.

“No, what makes you think that??” Lucas spluttered out, immediately dismissing the idea that formed in his mind. Max pursed his lips at him, which prompted the boy to look back at Eleven, “Are you positive we can just wait it out?”

Eleven paused. She quickly resumed when Mike began to come back out of the car.

“I’ll talk to Will later then,” She finally said, “I don’t think he’s telling us everything.”

 

\---------  


It was a unanimous decision that they would spend the night in the area they resided in, despite Will’s protests. They had set up camp for the night, adequately reheating the remainder of Joyce’s leftovers over the generous fire they made. The forest floor wasn’t as damp as the sun had evaporated most of the accumulated moisture from the hard rain that poured days ago – therefore it didn’t take much work to find dry enough firewood to start a fire. As they had fell asleep, the fire was slowly diminishing away, the natural breeze and the burning of the firewood below it causing it to give way. Everyone had fallen asleep beside the warm fire – basking in the warm area rather than the cold interior of the car with broken windows.

Will could feel someone gently shaking his shoulder. He slowly opened his eyes, seeing a crouched down Eleven looming above him.

“W…what’s going on?” Will sleepily said, sitting upwards. He rubbed his eyes before looking at the sleeping forms of the others, comfortably nestling within their coats around the smaller campfire. He looked back at Eleven who gave him a concerned look; she had been wanting to talk him all day…but decided she would wait until they were alone, until everyone else was asleep. She knew Will wouldn’t open much in the proximity of Mike because knowing Mike, the eldest would double down on his worry towards Will and probably make them wait an extra couple of days or get sidetracked if Will told him everything. There was also the fact that Eleven generally had a calmer demeanor when being told potentially shocking news; Will knew she wouldn’t become as frantic as Mike would. It wasn’t a surprise since they both had a regal quietness and calm about them; it set them apart from the other four who were generally more outspoken. For this reason, Will quickly formed a special bond with Eleven and would often gravitate to the older girl for advice.

“…I want to talk to you about something.”

Will raised his eyebrows, his sleepiness suddenly ceasing as his anxiousness overtook it. Eleven’s serious cadence to her voice added to that. He recalled Eleven about to say something to him and Mike before Hopper came back when they were in the lab.

“Why now? It’s…” Will asked, he stopped when he realized there wasn’t a watch near them, “I don’t know what time it is, but the sun hasn’t risen yet. Isn’t it too early?”

The sky was a dark blue, barely signaling the start of dawn. It was quite dark, except for the weakening campfire that was barely lighting up the area.

“Because I want to talk to you alone,” Eleven replied, “I know you won’t tell Mike, maybe you’ll tell me.”

Will sighed before he reluctantly followed Eleven to the car, making sure they were out of earshot of the others. They sat across from each other in the back passenger seats.

“What is it?” Will finally asked, although he had a lingering suspicion of what she was about to say.

“The episode you had today,” She began, “What did you see this time?”

Will’s curious stare changed to a solemn one. He dreaded this. He tore his gaze from her, his eyes facing his fidgety fingers on his lap. All of a sudden he wanted to walk out of the car and fall back asleep.

“…I’m okay, El,” He nervously said, “You don’t need to worry about it.”

She shook her head, “You’ve never had episodes like this before and we’re really worried. I know something else strange is going on, something you’re not telling us.  Maybe I can pin for the problem and you’ll stop getting the headaches and the really bad episodes.”

“Pinpoint,” Will corrected her usage of words, his voice quiet.

There was a short, but tense pause between the two.

“I won’t tell Mike, at all.”

“Promise?” Will said, he looked her straight in the eye.

“Promise,” She repeated.

Will glanced outside through the closed car window, double checking to see if the others were fast asleep. He could see Mike buried under his coat, comfortably sleeping. Maybe he could trust Eleven to help. After all, that type of ‘episode’ was something he didn’t want to experience again.

“It felt...It felt like someone was stabbing me in the head repeatedly,” He began, his voice shaky. Recollecting all of that was a frightening ordeal itself as the stabbing feeling and the images he saw in his head were still fresh in his mind, “I couldn’t control my movements…like my body was moving on its own. I couldn’t hear anything.”

“Then I saw red and orange flashes. After that I saw a bunch of different images, then it felt like I was zooming through different places within seconds...kind of like hyperspace from Star Wars, only not?”

Eleven nodded her head, familiar with that term as she remembered past times sitting with the others at home watching VHS cassettes of the franchise to the point of almost wearing them off.

“And then I stopped at a building for a few seconds before waking up.”

“What did it look like?” Eleven asked.

“The building?” The girl nodded, “It was a faded brown color, square shaped, and large with many windows...I didn’t recognize it.”

“Do you remember anything else about it?”

Will shook his head. It was strange that his visions lingered on that particular building, but he didn’t want to dwell on this matter too much. He was clearly uncomfortable and still shaken from that whole ordeal.

“Thank you, Will,” Eleven finished, noticing that the younger didn’t want to elaborate further.

When Eleven was about to get out of the car to go back to her sleeping area, Will’s voice interrupted her.

“Hey, El,” He spoke up, “When we were locked up in those cages, you had something to say to us. Did it have anything to do with Hopper?”

That was when her eyes widened, as if she had forgotten all this time.

 “We have to wake up everyone else.”   


\---------

  
The six had gathered inside the police car, rubbing the sleepiness off of them. It was still the crack of dawn, which meant that they only had a measly six hours of sleep.

“When Hopper took me into his office…I found information about us.”

Everyone was immediately alert with their attention on her.

“I don’t have any of it with me, but I was also able to spy on the Bad Men. They were talking about…”

Eleven paused for a moment, trying to remember what it was they exactly said. She was already going through an avalanche of emotions during her entire stay at the lab, so her thoughts were harder to collect. An extension of her powers allowed her to observe and listen to people in different locations, undoubtedly similar to the basis of Will’s true-sight. This was amplified in her state of sensory deprivation which she was able to achieve when she was locked up in the dark room – the complete silence and darkness allowing her to concentrate. 

“…they were talking about a place, where they had files about us.”

The others wanted to ask why she didn’t bring it up earlier, but they didn’t want to put any more strain on the already frazzled Eleven who had went through enough. They assumed the whole issue with Will probably made her forget as well.

“Do you know what the place is called?” Max was the first to speak.

“It’s a branch of the Department of Energy, called the Institute of Power and Light,” Eleven replied, “It’s in New York.”

That name sounded awfully familiar. _Power and Light._ The same words etched on the vans owned by the lab that mercilessly chased them for days.

Mike glanced at Will whose stare deviated onto the ashes of wood that previously made up the campfire. His uneasiness was quite evident, but his curiosity never subsided. Mike couldn’t blame him. Due to the many events that occurred within the past few days, anything right about now reasonably made them antsy.

“Where exactly in New York is it? Do you know?”

“I don’t know,” Eleven shook her head when she replied to Mike, “I did have a chance to read the files when Hopper left me in the room, not all of it, but enough information. The files tell us about our parents and where each of us came from.”  

They looked on at her, their eyes filled with burning curiosity. Max looked particularly shaken compared to the other six. She was the most curious when it came to stuff like this. She recalled finding brief files on her back at the cabin, but they had such sparse information – not even her last name was mentioned, the surnames blanked out. The only useful information she saw was a location.

“Our parents-” Eleven spoke, trying to muster her will to continue the sentence. Her voice was nearly on the verge of breaking, but she continued, “Some of our parents gave us away to Hawkins Lab.”

Another pause.

“…and some of us were stolen.”  

The last part of her sentence sent chills down Mike’s spine. Her voice wasn’t as shaky, instead it sounded firm with a twinge of anger, which only added to the tense atmosphere.

“What about the powers we have, how did we get those?” Lucas spoke up, “Were we born with them?”

“I didn’t have enough time to read all of the files, so I don’t know exactly how,” Eleven repeated, she continued.

“They took me away from my mother. She was one of _his_ test subjects.”

His. As in Dr. Brenner. She didn’t want to ever utter that name again, not after what she went through.

Mike saw how upset Eleven was…they all, in fact, were upset as she was. He noticed a tear drip down below her left eye, falling onto her lap. He also had a budding anger, some of their own parents willingly gave them away for harsh and illegal experiments to be done on them...their own kids. The thought of their own birth parents selling them to a torturous facility may have angered them. However, children literally being stolen from their unknowing parents infuriated them more for some reason. Max placed an arm around Eleven’s shoulders to comfort her.

“The files said that your stepfather gave you away to Hawkins Lab…after your mother passed away,” Eleven said to Max; the brunette wiped her tears with one sweeping motion of her arm, “He gave you away for some sort of compen…compension?”

“Compensation?” Max uttered, her voice weak at this realization. Eleven nodded as the red-head looked down.  Her fists were clenched so tight that the sides were becoming red; her arms were shaking. Her remaining parent, gave her away just to get paid a hefty sum from the laboratory. All of a sudden, going to the location – Old Cherry Road – that was listed on the files back in the cabin – was out of the question.

“…H-how could someone do that?”

From that alone, she knew exactly what kind of man her step-father was. Her step-mother might have been a better person, but the according to the files, she died. If Hawkins Lab was permanently shut down and the remainder of her friends somehow found their parents and were accepted by them, regardless of the powers they had, where would she go? It was clear her step-father didn’t want her. The thought of facing that terrified her to the core.

“Lucas, your parents were forced into giving you away,” Eleven continued, recalling what she read in one of the files, “Anonymous workers tied to the lab said that your parents were abusing you…so they were able to take you with them.”

“They were lying about that, right?” Lucas asked. His birth parents, the guardians he could only find solace in, being abusive did not sit right with him.

“Most likely,” She replied; Lucas felt a twisting sensation in his stomach. _Most likely._ She wasn’t completely sure, but he was confident that the lab would go as far as blackmail. They were never truthful about the abuse they put their subjects to, them going as far as to lie about something like this wasn’t too unbelievable.

“Dustin was taken away from his mom.”

“And my dad?” Dustin said.

“I don’t know,” Eleven replied, “He’s out of the picture, like mines.”

It was then Dustin knew his curiosity about this would never die down. Finding out where this ‘Institute’ place was located and obtaining all the information they needed was imperative for him, for all of them.

“What about us?” Will spoke up, motioning to himself and Mike.

Eleven hesitated. Anxiety harbored her.

She shook her head.

“I couldn’t find anything on you two,” She finally said, her voice on the verge of breaking down, “…I-I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Mike quietly replied while Will remained silent. Eleven could tell Mike was disappointed, although he put on a front that tried to convince her otherwise. It was clear he and Will were itching to know how they ended up in the lab.

  
\-------  


“Does this Institute place have every single bit of information we need to know?” Max spoke up, “Not just about our parents, but stuff like our full names and how we ended up with the powers we have.”

Max was clearly trying to put up of front between herself and everyone else. She was still heartbroken at the fact that she was one of them to be given away, willingly – all of them were, to varying degrees. Their initial suspicions of being taken from or given away by the people who were supposed to raise them as normal kids was confirmed. However, her curiosity wasn’t completely quashed since she wanted closure on how she came to be the person she was – that place could give her all the answers to all her questions.

“I’m sure of it,” Eleven said.

It was silent between the six; they were still trying to process the information they just received. It was a sparse amount, but an integral amount - enough to question their entire existence, especially since they had gone their entire lives without knowing a single thing about their parents.

“…So I guess this means we’re going to New York?” Lucas broke the silence. He was taken aback at that possibility. They had never stepped foot outside the confines of Hawkins; traveling miles and miles outside the state of Indiana was something neither of them have ever dreamt of doing.

“We don’t have anything else to do…or anywhere else to go,” Mike replied, his gaze downwards. He looked up at the others, seeing five pairs of eyes on him, “You guys want to find out more about your families and where you came from, right?”

There was unanimous agreement at that.

“How does noon sound? We can leave by then.”

“Good enough for me, I want to get as far away from here as possible,” Dustin replied to Mike.

Since Eleven didn’t have a picture of the place, she couldn’t locate its exact whereabouts. The first thing they would do was stock up on essentials and then drive to New York. Driving a safe distance from Indiana was just what they needed – the further they were from the lab, the better. From there, they would find some way to locate the mysterious ‘Institute of Power and Light’ place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooooh, this chapter was a handful (poor will). I guarantee the same will be for next chapter too. A lot is going to happen throughout the next few chapters. I'd love some feedback on this one too. Also, tysm for the kudos and comments!
> 
> (someone special will appear in the next chapter too, you can guess if you want to - but im not gonna reveal it till i post chapter 11 lol)


	11. Chapter 11

Mike’s disappointment about Eleven’s lack of information about his parents lingered. That prompted the boy to stay awake for the short amount of time the others slept for until the early hours of the afternoon. Initially, he didn’t want to stress himself out about it since they were on their way to the mysterious ‘Power and Light’ institute to look for comprehensive versions of their files that would hopefully answer all of their questions. However, his anticipation to see what answers he would possibly find left him in a bunch of nerves. His eyes were glazed over onto the quick passing trees as he stared outside through the window of the car.

“Earth to Mike. If you’re still in there please respond.”

From the corner of his sight he could see someone frantically wave their outstretched arm beside him.

“Yup he’s gone. He’s been like this all morning.”

Mike snapped out of his reverie, playfully shoving Dustin’s hand away from him. The curly haired boy leaned back in his seat, slightly triumphant that he broke Mike out of his trance.

“Sorry, I was just thinking about something,” He said, he looked at Max who kept her eyes on the road. She had been driving for an hour or so; they were nearly out of Hawkins at this point.

“I was trying to say we’re right about there,” Max said; she quickly pointed to the exit ahead of them. Said exit would lead them to an Indianapolis rest stop where they could stock up on supplies and money.

Within a few minutes, they entered the rest stop which had an abundance of stores – ones ranging from fast food restaurants to department stores. It was convenient enough for them; the generously sized Walmart in plain view ahead of them confirmed that. They made sure to park their car in an isolated, but partially hidden area…the cracked windows of their vehicle were going to bring much unneeded attention to them.

“How are we going to do this?” Max asked.

The six awkwardly looked at each other. Their sight eventually drifted off into the large Walmart store ahead of them.  


\-------  


When they first stepped in the store they kept themselves huddled close to each other, their typical paranoia surfacing. The saw people going about their business, walking through different aisles and dragging their shopping carts alongside them. It was a large venue, but it was filled to the brim with busy shoppers. To their luck, this store had a wide variety of items – ranging from electronics to regular groceries.

Maybe he was taking the paranoia too far, but Mike felt like everyone else’s eyes were on them. Six disheveled and uncomfortable looking teenagers would be bound to capture enough attention from any passer-by. Or maybe the other shoppers didn’t care, they looked quite busy with whatever shopping errands they had to run.

“Are you sure you guys want to split up?” Lucas asked.

Lucas knew that they would cover more ground if they split up to buy whatever they needed in a shorter perios of time, but the idea of separating after the culmination of all the events that happened during the last few days made him hesitant. Mike’s line of sight drifted to a corner that led to the restrooms.

“We’ll meet right over there in exactly 20 minutes,” Mike said, pointing to the corner, “20 minutes tops, no more than that.”

“You think that’s more than enough time for me to…y’know…” Dustin trailed off, looking around them. He didn’t want to say what he was supposed to do aloud since there were many people surrounding them.

“More than enough,” Mike nodded. After they got the supplies they needed and met at that specific spot, Dustin would take the form of a Wal-Mart cashier to grab enough money from one of the safes. It was a plan they came up with right on the fly, but Mike was certain that Dustin would be able to pull this off. They did feel bad for stealing from the cashiers who made a living off of the thankless work they had at the store, but like Max said, it was an emergency. There was no way they could make it to New York with the little money they currently had on them.

With that, the six split into groups of two: Mike with Lucas to find adequate covers that could cover the broken windows of the Blazer, Dustin and Will to stock up on snacks, Eleven and Max to buy spare clothes in the clothing aisles, including a coat for Eleven.

 

\------  


Max and Eleven felt…awkward, standing still at the end of the clothing aisle while the other shoppers around them were either busy looking through the outfits or roaming about to find specific articles of clothing they were looking for. From their tense and stand-offish body language, it was clear that they wanted to be anywhere but here. Their ruffled appearances – unruly hair and clothes dirtied from what went on n the last few days – made them stick out like a sore thumb. But the less attention they got, the better…so new clothes were a must.

“We should have been the ones to go get the snacks instead, Dustin’s probably going to stock up on inedible soup cans again,” Max sighed, she looked ahead at the numerous clothes racks ahead of her and El. Aside from that issue, Max didn’t care for the chore of shopping for outfits – finding garments of clothes that were fashionable enough or that fit well enough seemed tedious. Fashion-conscious ads she would see on TV confirmed that bias of hers.

She thought sweaters and jeans/sweatpants, as they were currently wearing would suffice. She had hoped they’d be able to find comfortable ones for all six of them within 30 minutes.

“Pretty!”

Max whirled her head towards Eleven who darted towards a clothes-rack of dresses. She immediately followed after the excited girl who was quickly sorting through the fancy outfits. The variety ranged from tea-length floral sundresses, long-sleeved chiffon dresses, and knee-length mono-color polyester dresses.

“Isn’t it too cold for those?” Max said, indifference at the outfits in front of her. She pulled one of them from the rack to examine it. She slightly grimaced at the colorful, flowery design and the stiff, fragile fabric it was made up of, “How do people even wear these? They look so uncomfortable.”

“You’d look so nice in some of them, especially this one-” Eleven grinned, ignoring Max’s obvious distaste. She removed one of the dresses from the rack; it was a royal-green knee-length flared polyester dress. She placed it in front of Max, holding it up with the hanger. That was when she grabbed another one, a sun-dress decorated with printings of pink lotus flowers.

Max reluctantly held onto the green dress while Eleven placed the floral dress in front of herself. She extended the bottom of it with her hand as she held onto the hanger with the other.

“Would this look good on me?” She asked, clearly carried away at this point. Eleven normally didn’t have a short attention span, but her liking to fashion took away from her focused personality. Aside from the TV she watched and old magazines she would read, she never had time to expound on that newfound interest of hers.

“I’m probably the last person you should be asking,” Max shrugged, “Why don’t you ask Will? He could use his _artistic expertise_ to make a good judgement on all of this.”

“He’s not here though,” Eleven sighed, “…and Will can’t dress to save his life.”

“Uhh, I think not!” Max retorted, “You have him confused with Mike or Dustin, even I know their choices in clothes are horrendous. Have you seen that crew-neck sweater Mike likes to wear all the time-”

Max stopped when she noticed Eleven’s paled face, her upbeat expression changing to one in shock.

“I’m going to need you two to come with me.”

Max whipped her head to the direction of the noise. Their eyes were on a man who wore the store’s work uniform. The two girls looked up at the employee, confusion and acute fear on their faces. The man clearly had a look of distaste on his face as if they did something wrong. The two quickly looked at each other, automatically assuming the worst. For all they knew, he could have been one of the Bad Men in disguise who miraculously found them.

“Why?” Max spoke up, her voice coming out colder than expected. She knew they had to find appropriate outfits soon, they didn’t have time for this.

“We had a complaint from one of our costumers here,” The man replied, the coldness to his voice matching hers. He continued, not as stern as before, “Now if you come with me, maybe we can put aside any misunderstanding and this issue can easily be resolved.”

“A complaint about what?” Max said, not easing her icy tone.

The man looked impatient, his face contorting to a slight scowl. Eleven noticed this and glared back at the man; a bout of annoyance in her suddenly came about, as she knowing he wasn’t going to leave them alone.

“We’re not required to disclose that.”

“Well, we’re not going anywhere with you until you tell us,” Max said, crossing her arms. She quickly looked at Eleven who still had both of the dresses on her arm.                                            

“I don’t appreciate this attitude of yours, miss. You’re making this a lot harder than it needs to be,” The man said, anger in his voice. The condescending tone to his voice only caused Max to scoff in annoyance.

“So are you!” Max snapped, her fiery temper getting the better of her, “Why don’t you go tell that other costumer to mind their fucking business?”

Eleven almost wanted to applaud Max for telling that man off, but she kept her calm composure. The man was clearly taken aback by her use of profanity, but he didn’t let that completely deter him.

“You guys are coming with me or I’ll call security.”

That was when the man grabbed Max by the wrist and pulled.

“Get off of her!” Eleven grabbed the man’s arm. She attempted to pry off his fingers from Max’s wrists, but he wouldn’t budge. Eleven’s sight darted to a large shelf of shoes. She suddenly tipped her head sideways, causing the shelf to lean forwards. Several costumers next to the shelf noticed that it was about to fall over. They yelled in panic, running out of the way before the shelf came crashing to the ground, the numerous shoeboxes and shoes were splayed out on the previously empty aisle next to the shelf.

The man’s eyes widened, his attention drawn by the sudden booming noise that came after the yells. To his dismay, he turned back and noticed that the girls were out of his sight.

  
\------  


“Come on, El! We have to go!” Max said, gesturing with her hand to hurry up. She noticed the girl was pulling out random garments from a counter table – anything ranging from sweatpants to jeans. The red-head frantically looked around to see if there was any sign of what looked like security.

“Hold on!” Eleven called back. She saw a rack of sweaters and coats not too far from her. She grabbed at least five of those with a blue-lined pea coat that was haphazardly left on the ground before running back to Max. Her face was partially hidden by the giant piles of clothes she carried.

Max immediately grabbed some before they continued to walk at a fast pace from the clothing section of the store. They tried not to run as that would give them unwarranted attention and thus attract suspicion from other costumers. When the two girls turned into a corner into what looked like the produce aisle, Eleven felt herself bump into someone.

“Will!” Max exclaimed, noticing El had ungracefully crashed into him, “Are you okay? Where’s Dustin?”

“I’m fine-” Will was interrupted, when Dustin appeared behind him.

“Right here,” He said.

“Did you get the money?” Max quietly asked.

“Yeah,” Dustin said, he gestured towards the book bag on his back, “Stealthy like a ninja.”

Max slightly lifted it, nodding her head in approval once she realized it was noticeably heavier.

“Right there! That’s the girl!”

The four whirled around to the source of the noise. Max and Eleven quickly recognized the man who tried to get them to come with him for some inexplicable reason. He was just several feet away, pointing at them, his face red as a tomato. Behind him were four security guards.

“Oh shit.”

“What the hell did you do, Max?” Dustin looked at her, before looking back at the men, “Where’s-”

“Come on!” Dustin didn’t get to finish his sentence as the red-head pulled the curly-haired boy. Eleven and Will immediately ran after them.

“Stop! Stop right there!”

They kept their quick speed, ignoring the loud voice of the man. The four maneuvered their way around the congested aisles of the store, slightly pushing aside people. They’d occasionally get flippant excuse you’s and hey!’s by other customers who were rudely pushed by them but they ignored that – they were in a crisis right now. Eleven looked back and saw other security workers had been called, an extra three to be exact.

She suddenly flung her arm forwards, causing copious amounts of apples to spill out of a nearby produce shelf they sat on. The security workers immediately stopped in their tracks to avoid tripping over the fruit. Surprised shrieks and shouts were heard throughout the area when they saw suddenly bunches of apples rolling on the floor.

Eleven didn’t think twice about using her powers in the open like that, but she assumed people wouldn’t notice the cause of it since the store was crowded at the moment – plus, this was an emergency. There was no way those men could catch them. They’d probably never be able to get to New York if that happened.

“Mike! Lucas!” Dustin shouted, seeing the other two boys several yards away from them next to the area they were all supposed to initially meet at.

When they caught their attention, they confusingly looked on as the other four were running at a high-tail speed towards them.

“We have to leave! Don’t ask any questions!” The curly-haired boy continued, before either of them could utter a word in. They didn’t waste a second as they instantly picked up their speed, running alongside the others. Lucas made sure to keep his tight hold onto a small box, it consisting of a blue car tarp.

The six could see the entrance doors of the store several yards ahead of them, that was when they picked up their speed, Max habitually keeping a head start. Much to their dismay, a store clerk noticed the six teenagers, carrying unchecked-out items: a short boy with a bowl-cut carrying a cart basket full of food items, two girls carrying mountains of clothing, and another boy carrying a box.

“Hey! Hey!” The clerk called after them, “You have to pay for those!”

They continued running, ignoring the shrill voice.

“Stop!” The employee continued, before exiting her cashier table. She noticed security guards running towards her direction, the same ones that were initially chasing the six. She frantically pointed to the teens ahead of them, “Thieves! They’re stealing!”

The automatic doors opened when the six exited the store. When the security guards were about to exit the store through the open doors, the doors suddenly slammed together, closing once again. The harsh impact caused the glass doors to shatter, stopping the security men in their footsteps.

This afforded them enough time for the six to run to the isolated and hidden area of the rest stop where they parked their car.  


\------  


The six used this moment to catch their breath and recollect the entirety of that ordeal.

The silence was suddenly broken by a peal of giggles coming from Eleven. The others looked at her confusingly. Not long after, Max bit her lip suddenly feeling a bout of laughter come about. She had no idea what came over her, but she joined in.

That was when she realized they were both laughing at the absurdity of what happened. What they thought would end up as an ordinary shopping venture, ended as another day of chaos. Trouble always seemed to go where they went, no matter how low-key they tried to keep themselves, it was strangely comical. Then there was also the adrenaline rush that came alongside it all.

“What’s so funny you guys?” Dustin raised his eyebrows.

The two girls couldn’t contain their laughter as the boys looked on at them, wondering if they’ve lost it. Causing irreparable damage to the store and almost getting caught twice didn’t seem funny at all.

“Long story,” Eleven said, her voice almost drowned in within her contagious laughs. She recounted the moment Max told off the employee who tried to stop them. Sometimes the brunette thought the older girl was too cool for her own good.

Mike couldn’t complain…after he realized everyone got the items they were supposed to get.  


\-------  


After another three hours of driving with Max needing much needed rest in between that long time. They congratulated the girl on her stellar driving when they finally reached Ohio, creating an unusually flustered max. Within those three hours, they managed to cut the car tarp and place the blue film over the broken windows of the car. It looked ridiculous, but it was better than having wind constantly hit their face when they drove at a high speed on the highway.

When the sun was getting ready to set, they decided to stop at a motel to spend the night. Max was too afraid to drive during the night, one of the headlights were broken, and the six were incredibly tired. They wanted somewhere comfortable enough to sleep in.

The motel they came across was a moderately sized two story motel. Beside it was a small mom & pop pizza restaurant.

Mike reluctantly led the way, approaching the old and worn down building. At a closer inspection, the paint was peeling off the sides of it. It looked to be in pretty bad condition, but it was either this building or sleeping uncomfortably in the cramped up police car.

When they reached the inside of the separate check-in lobby, they saw the front desk. A young man sat behind the desk, his thick brown hair sticking up from it. He didn’t notice the six young teens walk up to the counter as he was immersed in the football game he was watching on the T.V beside him.

“Uhh…excuse me, we’d like-”

“One second, the Browns are about to make a touchdown!” The young man interrupted Mike, his eyes not peeling away from the small TV.

It was silent except for the background noise of the football commentators and loud cheers coming from the speakers of the television. Mike’s jaw twitched when the young man wasn’t responding after a good four minutes – he was so immersed into the game, seemingly forgetting he had costumers. That was when the impatient Mike pressed on the service bell that sat on top of the counter – several times.

 “Hey!” The man flinched, snatching the bell away from Mike’s grasp, “I told you I’d be with you guys in a second.”

“Apparently several minutes means ‘a second’ now,” Dustin spoke up.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” the older male scowled, his full attention on them, “What can I get for you guys?”

“Can we get the room with three beds?” Mike asked, noticing that was the maximum that this particular motel had.

“Sure,” He took a close look at the costumers in front him – teenagers around the same age. He almost he thought they were siblings, but he immediately dismissed that notion as they looked nothing like each other. What also captured his attention was the disheveled look each of them had, dirt-stricken faces, dirtied jackets that hid their clothes. From what he noticed, there weren’t any adults with them. The young man felt six pairs of eyes stare him down, waiting for him to confirm their order and give them the keys after they paid.

“Are you guys runaways?”        

When Mike was about to say something, Dustin interrupted.

“I think that’s none of your business, Mr. Harrington,” Dustin’s eyes were glued to the employee nametag of the young man.

“This one’s a smart talker,” The young man, ‘Mr. Harrington’, said, his eyes on the other five. He looked back at Dustin, “…and it’s Steve. No formalities allowed in here.”

After ‘Steve’ noted their order and they paid the appropriate amount, he gave them the keys – telling them the specific room number they were to go to.  


\------  


Aside from the bedroom of the three beds, lined side-by-side, there was a small bathroom beside it with a sink and shower where they could freshen up. The six, minus will, had done so before changing into the clothes Eleven bought- or rather stole since they didn’t have a chance to pay. It seemed to be a reoccurring pattern with the six, starting with the gas station. Eleven had plopped down on one of the beds, appreciating the comfort she hadn’t gotten in days. Beside her, Max was seated, absently bouncing on the edge.  

“Who’s up for pizza?” Lucas spoke up, breaking the silence.

“You mean ‘who isn’t?’,” Dustin said, he looked at the others, “I got more than enough money. I think we can help ourselves for one night, what do you think?”

Eleven and Max eagerly agreed.

“You got us the money, it’s only fair if we let you spend a bit of it on something you want,” Mike shrugged.

While Mike stayed behind to watch over Will, the other four left the room to go to the pizza place next door to the motel.

“Remember when we last ate pizza and El asked for the one with pineapples? That’s definitely one we’re not getting if they sell it here cause that was absolutely disgusting-”

“It wasn’t that bad…”

“Yes it was!”

Eleven’s and Lucas’ voices were drowned out once they closed the door to the motel room.   


\------  


“Will, what’s this?”

When Will emerged out of the bathroom in his fresh change of clothes – a rugged grey cotton sweater with darker sweatpants – he saw Mike holding onto his sketchbook. Mike couldn’t blame himself, Will had left his sketchbook out on the open before he left to take a shower. The book was situated on his lap with it turned onto a particular page. That specific page was the charcoal drawing of a boy’s body sprawled out on a bed of bushes, a pool of blood escaping his right arm. Will remembered sketching that all those days ago; he nearly forgot about it especially with all that happened during the past few days.

“It’s nothing,” Will said, before taking…or rather snatching the sketchbook away from him. Mike was confused by his haste action. When Will closed quickly the book, Mike concluded the younger was trying to hide something from him, from everyone else. Not only that, Mike also noticed the sketch gravely resembled him laying over top the shrubby area in the ravine after he got shot. He was sure Will only used his true-sight _after_ he entered Joyce’s house – so how would he know what happened to him in the forest when he got attacked?

“That picture…is that supposed to be me?” Mike asked, trying to conjure up the right words to say, “That’s exactly how I looked like, right after those guys shot me. How did you draw this without knowing what happened?”

Will’s mouth opened, then closed. He hoped that this day would be a break from the stressful ordeal they had been dealing with. He didn’t feel like discussing anything that had to do with…anything, particularly events surrounding the lab, his powers, the Institute, or his family that he didn’t know about yet. But he looked at Mike’s expression, he was confused and there were things he wanted to know.

“I don’t know.”

Those three words Will had said weren’t enough for Mike. But Will was being truthful, he didn’t know. He absently drew that particular drawing without a second thought, he never thought ‘how?’...how he subconsciously knew about Mike being injured. Will clutched his sketchbook tighter as the seconds of silence between them felt like hours.

“Will, I feel like…” Mike nervously began, a tinge of disappointment on him, “I feel like you’re not telling us everything, like you’re hiding something from us.”

There was that characteristic face of worry on Mike. He recalled Eleven saying similar words to him the other day.

“I’m serious, I’m not…I’m just as clueless as you are,” Will said, his voice weaker. This time he wasn’t being truthful…he _was_ hiding something. He just didn’t want to talk about this anymore. He was afraid of where this conversation was going to go. He didn’t want the others to distract themselves by worrying about his issues. He had unintentionally stalled them enough…plus, the talk of this scared him. He wanted it off of his mind for just one day.

Mike could sense the edginess in Will’s voice. Fortunately for Mike, Will wasn’t a very good liar…the crack in the younger’s voice indicating that, “You haven’t been yourself since we left home, and I-.”

“Mike, I swear, it’s nothing you need to worry about. Coming back from the lab and almost losing you and El…I’m just stressed out, that’s all,” Will interrupted. His voice was normal, but there was still a touch of edginess to it.

Mike shook his head. He could let it go the other day, but not now, “I think– no, _I know_ this isn’t just stress. You nearly threw up your entire body weight…twice. The second time you suddenly fell over and started convulsing all over the place, I was _scared_ , Will. I was so scared.”

Mike didn’t want to even delve into Will’s heightened spur-of-the-moment use of his power, but he had to. He really wanted Will to speak with him.

“And what you said doesn’t even answer the question about the drawing. Does it have something to do with true-sight? You’ve been really spontaneous with it lately, like the time you were able to give directions to Max when the Bad Men were chasing us or the time we were at the gas station, something isn’t adding up and I know it!”

“How do you think I feel?” Will suddenly said.

“What?” Mike’s eyes widened, taken aback by Will’s increased volume. Will had no idea what came over him, but he wanted Mike to stop…he wanted Mike to drop whatever he was saying.

“I’m scared too, Mike!” He exclaimed, his eyes watery, “And it’s made worse by you treating me like this!”

A part of Will thought he was being irrational with his sudden outburst, but these were feelings he could keep locked in for any longer. Throughout the car ride from the forest to this particular motel, Will felt like everyone else, especially Mike, was baby-ing him and treating him like he couldn’t handle things on his own. He knew why, but it still drove him nuts. He didn’t like the “special” treatment nor did he like being stressed over. He didn’t like being reminded of what happened the other day.

“Treating you like what?” Mike had never seen Will this way towards him.

“Like I’m going to break at any moment!” Will continued, “When I say you don’t need to worry, I really mean it! I don’t want you guys to put a stop to our goal just so you can waste your time on me again…I’m sure whatever went on with me won’t happen again, now that we don’t have as much to worry about anymore.”

Mike let out an aggravated sigh. Will just attributing all of this to ‘stress’ still didn’t assure him enough.

“I wish I could agree with you, but I’m not convinced, Will,” Mike said, he could tell Will was trying to double-down on the lie he told. He remained seated on the bed across from Will who was still standing, his hand tight on his sketchbook, “I’m your best friend, you can tell me anything.”

Will’s grip became tighter on the book he held. Mike was using _that_ tone.

“That’s funny coming from you,” He retorted, causing Mike to frown. Will continued, uncharacteristic sarcasm dripping off of his voice, “Remember when you were so excited to tell me everything that Hopper said to you?”

“T-That’s different-” Mike almost stumbled on his words.

“How?” Will urged, “How is it any different from my situation??”

“So you do admit you’re hiding something!” Mike said, exasperation lacing his voice.

Will hesitated, surprised that he was lured so easily into that trap…whether Mike did that intentionally or not.

“You’re such a hypocrite!” He suddenly bellowed, his voice louder than Mike’s. Will was taken aback by how angry he was capable of sounding. There weren’t any more tears in his eyes, anger had replaced his sadness entirely, “You should be the last person trying to lecture me on keeping secr-”

He immediately stopped when they heard loud knocking come from the door. They were startled at first, but Mike quickly stood up and looked through the peephole of the door. When he realized it was one of the motel employees, he opened it – part of him hoping that they weren’t in trouble.

“We had a noise complaint from the people next door,” The employee said, “Whatever you guys are doing, you’re going to have to keep it quiet.”

“Sorry,” Mike said, rather tight-lipped. _Were he and Will really that loud?_

The hotel employee simply mumbled something under his breath before leaving, probably something to do with how disrespectful the ‘youth these days’ were. That was when the other four came, walking past the employee with pizza boxes in hand. They noticed Mike’s tense demeanor when he closed the door to the room after they came inside.

“What happened, Mike? You look upset,” Eleven began, she noticed Will wasn’t in the room, “Is Will still in the bathroom?”

Mike pursed his lips when he saw the closed bathroom door. He walked over and attempted to open it, but it wouldn’t budge.

“…He locked himself in,” Mike said in a quieter voice.

The other four look on at Mike before looking at each other, puzzled looks on their faces.

“We got into a fight.”

That only earned Mike surprised stares from the others.

“…That’s a first,” Max mumbled to herself. Beside her, the other three set the abundant amount of food they got onto a small table – three medium sized boxes of pizza with two large 40 ounce coke bottles.

“We've got a lovers’ quarrel on our hands,” Dustin said, earning snickers from Lucas and Max. Dustin felt slightly bad for the off-handed joke, but he couldn’t resist.

“Shut up and eat your pizza,” Mike said, hoping to god Will didn’t just hear that from the other room.

  
\-------

 

Will leaned over the bathroom faucet, turning the cold water on. He placed his hands on the edges of the sink before he had a closer look at his reflection. His heart nearly lurched out of his chest when he saw the state of himself. His face was paler than usual and his dark circles were prominent. His usually lively and bright hazel eyes were dull and dreary, his big eyelids heavy over them. Will briefly forced himself to smile, but his smile didn’t reach his eyes.

He looked dead inside.

He continued to stare at his reflection as the water continuously ran down from the faucet to the drain in the sink. He looked scared and exhausted beyond repair; it was no wonder how the others could snuff it right out of him. Will immediately flushed ice-cold water onto his face, trying to rid the negative thoughts from his mind. His hands trembled in front of his face after he rubbed his eyes of the water. He kept his eyes on the mirror, his lower lip trembling too…the argument he just had with Mike wouldn’t allow him to push aside those thoughts.

He was so scared.

He was hiding plenty, but he truly had no idea what was going on with him. He recounted those inexplicably strange moments that manifested from the power he had. The headaches, the sudden, spontaneous bout of visions, the “car-sickness”, and the elevated and accidental use of his true-sight – it scared him so much. Even when his stress was high when they first escaped the lab, nothing close to this ever happened.

_What the hell is happening to me?_

Those words kept echoing in Will’s mind.

He crouched down in a corner and pressed his hands against his temple. He couldn’t bring himself to cry – it was as if his tear-ducts flushed out the remaining tears he had left. He didn’t want to be bothered either, he wanted to be alone. He was afraid he would break down if any of the five, especially Mike, saw him like this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY this had to be, by far, the most interesting chapter I've ever written for this fic. I had so much fun writing this one and exploring dynamics between characters that never interacted much (Eleven and Max), 
> 
> P.S: I'm sorry for byler fight (it was so fun to write though), things will get better soon though :))
> 
> also what did you think of steve's appearance in this fic?? I had an early comment on that and I felt like i should include him sooo I did. He's going to appear in the next chapter too.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god sorry for the REALLY late update! (It's been nearly a month ahh)
> 
> I was going through a huge bout of writers block and there been a lot going on with life (school), but I'm back and I'll probably start updating this regularly again! I hope you enjoy this really long chapter, I think this one is the longest as of now. Also, there's more Byeler in this one too!

Mike was the first of the six to wake up.

He sat upwards, removing the bedsheet off of him. He raised his eyebrows when he noticed the tightness of the cloth. He looked beside him and saw Will sleeping on the far corner of the bed, his body curled up in fetal position and facing away from him. He recalled the youngest deciding to sleep separately on the uncomfortable-looking chair at the corner of the room as he was still angry at Mike. Mike assumed he must have changed his mind and moved to the bed since he couldn’t fall asleep.

The dark-haired boy sighed, he hoped the ramifications of their first real argument wouldn’t be too severe.  

His eyes drifted off to the others who were knocked out asleep: Max and Eleven in one bed, Dustin and Lucas in another. They were comfortably enveloped in their bedsheets, a contrast from their own coats they would use to keep warm. Will, on the other hand, was lying on his side without one – his head not on top of a pillow as well. He was fast asleep, but his head against the firm mattress of the bed didn’t look too comfortable.

Mike got off the bed and flipped the bedsheet so it would mostly cover Will. He gently raised Will’s head, making sure not to wake up the boy, before sliding one of the pillows under him. The youngest slightly shifted in his sleep from the change in comfort, but comfortably snuggled into the bedsheet.   


  
\------  


_‘-right into our starburst fruit juice...’_

_‘…a burst of reflecting fruit flavor for you.’_

Mike peered through the door of the bathroom, only to see that Eleven had turned on the small T.V. It was propped on top of a tiny stand adjacent to the beds.

She was crouching down close in front of it since it was turned down to the lowest volume possible because the others were still asleep. The girl was completely entranced into it as she didn’t notice Mike emerging from the bathroom. The bright, colorful light from the screen was reflecting off of her irises, her eyes wide at the commercial that was apparently interesting to her.

 _‘Naturally and artificially flavored-’_ the quick voice-over from the catchy tune of the commercial was interrupted by Eleven changing the channel with a slight turn of her head. The content this time shown a news reporter standing in front of a store.

‘ _Yesterday mayhem erupted at this Indianapolis Wal-Mart…’_

“Wait, wait, don’t change the channel!”

Those words from the reporter prompted Mike to bolt towards the TV’s area. The girl was taken aback, surprised at Mike’s sudden appearance. Before she could say anything, she stopped herself when the content within the TV caught her attention.

The content comprised of shots of a rest stop with several stores, which included the Walmart mentioned.

_‘…A series of sudden and bizarre events went on at this venue which prompted several security-men to be called. Costumers recall seeing one of the shelves within the shoe department tip over and fall on it’s own…’_

Eleven and Mike looked at each other, immediately aware of what she was talking about.

It switched to a person being interviewed in front of the same Walmart that the six shopped in…or rather stole from just yesterday.

‘ _It had to be the strangest thing I’ve seen in my entire 40 years of living. My wife and I were looking for sneakers to buy for our son…just another ordinary day of shopping, right? But then all of a sudden we heard a bunch of screams. One of the giant shoe shelves ahead of us fell straight into the ground- it just fell, something that sturdy- I mean, how does that even happen-”_ The person being interviewed was clearly taken aback as he could barely get his sentences in without sounding awe-struck.

The TV switched back to the reporter.

_‘Not long after, apples from the produce section erratically spilled out of their cartons. Nobody knows how both occurred exactly or the source of these mysterious happenings.’_

_‘However, six teenagers were spotted running away from the security with stolen goods by one of the store clerks and several by-standers. They recall the entrance doors being forcibly slammed against each other – one of them describing it like a “magnet” bringing them together – which caused the glass to shatter. Due to this, security lost trace of them and were unable to identify the kids associated with the crime…’_

The TV screen panned to another reporter who was guiding the camera man through the newly cluttered store. Eleven glanced at Mike, attempting an innocent and sheepish smile.

“…Let’s just turn it off,” Mike suggested, he knew this was inevitable since he remembered Max telling him that one of the store employees had unfair suspicions about them – which in turn spiraled into all of this.

“I didn’t have any choice,” Eleven said, her eyes on the now-black TV screen, “That man said he was going to take us in for questioning…I think he might have been one of the Bad Men.”

“It’s fine. No more supermarkets for a while, I guess,” Mike replied, an amused smile forming his lips, “I think we should lay low.”

Eleven nodded, her smile coming back.

“I was gonna go get some fresh air,” Mike spoke up, “Do you want to come with?”

“Of course, it’s too stuffy in here.”

 

\------

 

After the two had left a specific note for the others that they were right outside to get fresh air, they left the motel room. They walked side-by-side, deciding to stroll around the premises of the motel. They kept a close distance to the buildings, making sure not to walk off too far. It was noticeably colder than yesterday, but neither of them minded. Their comfortable silence was harshly cut off by Eleven.

“Are you going to apologize to Will soon? It was awkward to watch you two yesterday,”

Mike’s face almost went red at Eleven’s blunt statement. It was something that always got to him, Eleven’s to-the-point personality. She never took her time to get to the burning questions, she just went on ahead and asked them.

“How do you know it’s my fault?” Mike replied, his voice a little too defensive for his liking, “You weren’t there when it happened.”

“Okay, what happened?”

Before Mike could even think about what he would say, the words – only two words, rather – sporadically came out.

“…Nothing really.”

Mike knew what he just said was full of shit. Delving into the tense argument he had yesterday and replaying it in his head was not something he wanted to do at the moment. All he wanted to do was get some fresh air and clear his head.

“Friends don’t lie, Mike.”

 _Shit._ Mike bit his lower lip. He did a whole lot of that last night. He slowed down his steps with Eleven’s, noticing that the girl was walking at a slower pace than before.

“Will didn’t speak to us for the rest of the night,” She continued. Mike remembered that. Will only gave them tight-lipped and terse one-word answers, before retreating into permanent silence, “What happens if you guys don’t fix it?”

 “He’s not telling me anything,” Mike said, “I _know_ there’s something else going on with him and I’m scared he’s going to get worse if he’s not opening up to us.”

Eleven recalled the moment days ago that she got Will to spill out the wonky ‘now-memory’ he saw, but she remembered making a promise to him – a promise in which she wouldn’t tell anyone, particularly Mike. But she wanted to tell Mike all what Will said to her; she knew that they’d be able to get to the bottom of whatever was going on with Will in a quicker fashion if everyone knew. She knew Will was being irrational and it wasn’t fair to keep them in the dark like that.  

“Mike…”

“What?” The older stopped when he saw Eleven stop in her tracks. He raised his eyebrows when he noticed Eleven’s sullen expression.

“Will told me.”

Mike felt his already surging inquisitiveness escalate even more.

“What did he say? When did he say it?”

The younger girl shifted on her feet. The distressed look in Mike’s eyes was too much for her at the moment, but she couldn’t give in. She blatantly promised Will that she wouldn’t say anything; she had to stick to that promise. She never broke promises.

“I can’t tell you.”

“What do you mean you can’t tell me?” Mike asked, confusion marking his features. He tried not to sound too heated, but it was clear his impatience was not festering any time soon. The dark-haired boy looked on as Eleven nervously bit her lip.

“We promised.”

“El!” 

“Mike, you have to talk to him,” She continued, ignoring his elevated tone of voice.

“Wow, I never thought of that,” Mike sarcastically said, he crossed his arms, “I told you I did and he kept brushing me off.”

“You must have said something to make him angry. Will never gets angry like that,” Eleven countered, noting Will’s general avoidance of everyone else last night, “He’ll talk to you if you apologize for that.”

When Mike was about to argue, he thought for a moment. He thought about the immense coddling they brought upon Will. He thought about the fact he refused to elaborate on what Hopper said to him…the reason why Will blew up on him all of a sudden.

“Things would be a lot easier if you’d just tell me what he said to you,” Mike shrugged, “…I won’t tell him that you told me.”

“No,” Eleven shook her head, insistent on keeping her promise, “Just talk to him normally. Don’t overwhelm him. Will doesn’t like that.”

Mike knew that. Will had stated to him that he didn’t want the others to coddle him. However, that would be a difficult feat to attain as Mike was too fearful not to worry about him like that. Mike also needed to be more open with his friend; he was also keeping a certain secret from him…from everybody else.

“If that’s what works, then I’ll try to.”

“See? Easy.”

“It’d be a lot more convenient if you’d tell us though. We’d all be able to help Will quicker,” Mike said, ignoring the playful condensation in her voice. He walked ahead of Eleven.

Eleven almost scoffed; she wasn’t going to let Mike get to her so easily. Will would be devastated if she went on ahead broke the promise – she didn’t want to do that to the person she was the second closest to. They continued to walk in a relaxed silence around the motel venue. Mike’s mind drifted onto Will himself, he assumed he and the others had woken up by now. He knew Will’s anger was foreign to him and everyone else, so his behavior was unpredictable at the moment. He hoped the youngest wasn’t continuing to give the others the cold shoulder.

Eleven suddenly broke the silence.

“Mike!”

“What is it, El?”

“The car! It’s gone!” Eleven exclaimed.

Mike’s line of sight shifted to Eleven who stood several feet behind him. She pointed to the isolated area that they had kept the large police vehicle parked in, haphazardly put on blue window coverings and all.

There was no trace of it.  


\------  


“Where the hell is our car?!”

Mike had barged into the separate motel lobby with Eleven closely following him. Steve was behind the counter, him having started his shift a few hours ago. For a split second, Mike thought he was being too accusatory, but he dismissed those thoughts since there was one other customer who had spent the night in the motel. Since then the single car that they had parked with was gone, them leaving before him and Eleven woke up. He concluded that the motel employees were at fault.

“What car? You guys came with one?” Steve feigned cluelessness, “Aren’t you like fourteen?”

“We parked it behind the motel rooms, in the area behind all those trees and now it’s suddenly gone,” Mike answered, his impatience skyrocketing, “I know you had something to do with this.”

Steve simply raised his hands on either side of his head, almost in a ‘hey, don’t blame me. I got nothing to do with this.’ gesture. But from his slightly amused expression, both Mike and Eleven could tell something was off. He was clearly trying his hardest not to laugh – the younger two had no idea what was so amusing about this.

“You better watch your back, Steve.”

“I can’t tell if that was supposed to be a threat or not.”

“It was a threat,” Mike retorted, trying his best to look intimidating.

Steve regained his composure, knowing that this boy would never leave if he didn’t provide a good enough explanation.

“Listen, Mike-without-a-last-name,” He began, earning a frown from the younger male, “Just tell me if you guys plan on leaving early and we’ll have it back to you by then.”

Mike raised his eyebrows, his initial suspicions confirmed. _So he does have it._

“Where is it?”

It was silent for a moment, Mike and Eleven unmoving from their current position.

“So I’m guessing you’re not going to go back to your room if I don’t tell you.”

“No,” Mike said, his voice not faltering.

There was another but longer moment of silence. The tense air not subsiding. If looks could kill, Steve would be under cardiac arrest from the glares that Mike and Eleven were giving him.

“Go get your other friends,” The older guy finally said, slight aggravation to his voice, “It’d be more appropriate if all of you were here.”

The other two silently glanced at each other, wondering if they should trust this guy so easily. The obvious answer would be no, but it wasn’t as if they could get the cops involved by reporting Steve for car theft. If push came to shove, they would have to physically force Steve to stop whatever he was doing. Mike didn’t want to create a scene, he knew he’d have to play nice and oblige to Steve’s request.

 “Well?” Steve tried breaking the silence.

Mike could see the discomfort grow on Eleven’s face, but he ignored that by tearing his gaze off of her.

“Fine,” The younger boy finally said, relaxing his shoulders.   


\------  


The other four had already woken up and were in the middle of eating breakfast when Mike loudly knocked on the door of the motel. The others nearly jumped up, startled from the loud, almost pounding noise from outside. When Dustin opened it, the other two hurriedly went inside, confusing the former.  

“Jesus Christ, you scared us!” Max exclaimed.

Mike briefly looked at Will who quickly looked away once Mike caught his eyes on him. It was clear that the stiff dynamic was still there. Will was seated on the lone chair while the other three were sitting on the floor beside the bed, breakfast items from their supermarket venture sprawled across the ground.

“That Steve Harrington guy stole our car,” Mike spoke up.

Everyone’s full attention was on him.

“He what?!” Dustin said.

“–and he’s not going to tell us where it is until we go back to the front desk.”

“No way are we doing that!” Lucas countered, “He probably knows who we are and he’s using that car as bait to kidnap us all.”

“Yeah,” Dustin agreed, “Besides, we’ll have no problem finding it ourselves.”

“No problem,” Eleven echoed, “I can find it and we’ll force him to give it back to us.”

Since she already knew what the vehicle looked like, she had would have no trouble finding it through extrasensory perception.

With that said, Max quickly went over to the T.V and turned it on, changing the channels until she reached one where there was complete static. At this point, Eleven was able to go into the void without the assistance of white noise, but this process made it quicker for her. When she was seated down in front of the T.V, she took Lucas’ headband from the boy’s outstretched hand and wrapped the cloth around her eyes.

The others surrounded Eleven, making sure not to speak too loudly to break her focus.

The endless sound of static abruptly stopped.

Eleven opened her eyes.

She saw herself standing in the center of a completely black atmosphere, one that was devoid of any noise. She looked down, seeing water ripple out from her bare feet. When she turned around, she saw several men surrounding an object. The men were unable to see her, so she walked closer to get a better look.

As she predicted, the object was the police Cruiser. What caught her attention the most was that the windows were no longer cracked; new ones were inserted into the doors. She could see one of the men reinsert a new headlight in place of headlight areas where the cracked one previously stood.

They were fixing the car.  

Eleven instantly pulled Lucas’ headband off of herself.

“What did you see?” Mike asked.

“They’re fixing it in a place underground here,” Eleven said, her voice clearly surprised, “…The windows and the front.”

The other five were silent, they were just as surprised and confused as her.

“Wait, who’s fixing it? Do you know?” Lucas asked.

“A bunch of a men,” The brunette said.

“…A bunch of men,” Dustin repeated, “Repair men?”

Eleven shrugged.

“Okay, but why would Steve need to do that?” Lucas asked, “We never paid him a single cent.”

“It’s also pretty strange that he takes our car without our permission,” Dustin added.

There was another long bout of silence.

“Do we just go down there and take our car back?”

“Let’s just go back and see what Steve has to say,” Mike replied to Lucas.

“Are you sure about this?”

“It’s a lot less trouble then breaking and entering to wherever the hell place he took our car to,” Mike said.

It was then the six unanimously decided to head to the motel’s front desk. Steve immediately noticed their presence and peeled his eyes off the T.V.

 

\-----

 

“I knew you guys would come around,” Steve said.

“If this is a trap, we’re more than capable of beating your ass,” Dustin said, earning a frown from Mike. Dustin ignored Mike’s snappy glance; the curly haired boy wasn’t going to filter himself.

“Aw, but it wouldn’t be fair if it was six against one,” Steve replied, unfazed by the threatening air the kids were putting on. The other six still kept on their straight faces, unamused by Steve’s biting remarks. Dustin raised his eyebrows when Steve’s glance wouldn’t leave his eyes. They were all waiting for him to take them to place where their car was at.

“What’s your number?” Harrington suddenly asked.

“What?” Dustin’s face was suddenly in shock. He looked at his friends; they all shared the same looks of confusion and surprise. They had a lingering idea of what Steve was trying to ask of them suddenly.

“C’mon I’m pretty sure you know what I’m talking about,” Steve continued; he suddenly brought up his arm and pulled the sleeve of his sweatshirt.

That number was clearly printed on his wrist. 

 

\------

 

It was completely silent among the six as their gazes were deadlocked onto the numbered tattoo on the area under Steve’s left wrist.

“I saw the number peeking out of your sleeve when I gave you the keys, so there’s no use hiding it,” He pointed to Mike, “I’m guessing the rest of you guys are like Mike here, too.”

Aside from themselves, they had never seen another experimental ‘subject’ outside of the lab before so they had every right to be shocked. Experimental subjects escaping the lab was unheard of, Mike had vaguely heard rumors about one or two successfully escaping before – but that was all it was, rumors. But right in front of them there was an actual escapee. All eyes were on Dustin when he shakily pulled back the sleeve of his coat, revealing the number 010 on it.  

“Okay, that doesn’t explain why you stole our car,” Mike was the first to speak out. He was clearly trying to brush off the shock he was in. So what if he was another escapee? That didn’t automatically make him on their side. For all he knew, he was using the car to keep them hostage for an ulterior motive since he knew of their real identities.

“We’re doing a small-scale repair on it - the headlights, broken windows, and all,” Steve replied, speaking in a calmer voice, “I’m only here to help you guys. From one Hawkins Lab escapee to another.”

Mike frowned. In contrast, the other five’s expressions softened, particularly Eleven’s. From what she saw in the Void, the mechanics ardently repairing the Cruiser in some sort of underground bunker, she knew Steve was telling them the truth. However, Mike’s suspicion wasn’t faltering. He didn’t want to engage in any possible conflict, but they weren’t in any position to trust anyone at the moment.

“We never asked for your help,” Mike said; he ignored the exasperated roll-of-the-eyes Steve gave him. Mike looked back when he saw Dustin’s hand on his shoulder.

“Mike, I think we should let him,” The other said, in a quieter voice, “We have a long way to go, we might as well have the car in good condition, right? I mean, he’s doing it for free.”

“Well that’s a sudden change of heart you had from moments ago, Dustin,” Mike replied, recalling Dustin being the most accusatory and suspicious among the others moments ago.

“See? This is why I didn’t want to tell you guys in the first place,” Steve interrupted, “I thought you’d be able to trust me after I showed you the number I had, but I guess that last resort didn’t work.”

It was silent for a few seconds until Eleven spoke up.

“Show us to it.”

The others looked at the brown-haired girl.

“Okay,” Steve finally said, hesitance in his voice. He sunk under the intimidating the stares others had. He swore they could look so threatening for young teenagers their age.

 

\------

 

“Don’t do anything stupid once we’re down there,” Steve said, the other six were gathered behind him. He used a pair of keys to open a previously locked door that stood behind the front desk. With the gesture of his arm, he silently motioned the others to go in first. To Steve’s chagrin, they all stood in their place, unmoving. The unwavering distrust they kept wasn’t going to leave anytime soon.

“What?” Steve said.

“Ladies first,” Dustin said.

“So funny,” The older male said, heading through the opened door. The others could hear his voice from the inside, “See? Nothing bad. I was just being polite.”

The others headed inside, trying their hardest to keep a cautious air. It was a completely dark hallway they came across, sparse amounts of wall lights barely lighting it up on the side.

“Watch your step,” Harrington said.

Mike felt the floor dip, his foot on the top of a flight of stairs that were heading downwards. Ahead of them, he could see Steve go further down, his steps much more coordinated than theirs as he’d probably been down this place a million times.

“Do you steal people’s cars and repair on them without their permission or are we an exception?” Dustin spoke up, everyone’s attention was on him. Lucas nudged the curly haired boy, his annoyance rapidly growing at his friend’s snarky attitude.

“I usually charge a lot for the regular costumer,” Steve said, ignoring the boy’s denigrating question, “There’s a bulletin board up on my front desk that shows the exact prices. You guys didn’t notice it?”

“We were too busy trying to get your attention so you give us a room after being on the road for hours,” Dustin replied, referring to Steve’s initial inattention to them when he was watching the game on the counter TV.

Steve couldn’t help but to let out a chuckle. Dustin simply rolled his eyes.

They turned right into another hallway, this one as dark as the previous one. The further they walked, the less dark it became. Not too long after, they could see light looming from an entrance. The entrance led to a giant room that was lighter but darker than the lobby room.

“…Woah,” Max spoke in a hushed voice.

The six stopped once they entered what looked to be like a car garage. It had an unconventional look to it as it was technically in the form of a bunker, but it was all the more impressive. There were an array of cars that other costumers dropped off. Extra tools used to fix said cars were lined up at the walls, creating the spacious interior. They’ve vaguely heard of car garages, but one that was actually underground a motel venue was a completely unfamiliar ground for them.

“Guys, your car is over here.”

Steve’s voice broke them out of their reverie. The older male motioned towards a vehicle with its wheels on top of hydraulic car ramps. It was the Chevy Cruiser, the brand new windows installed as Eleven saw in the Void. One of the new headlights were already installed and the front hood cover was replaced. There were two car mechanics in the process of inserting the second headlight in.

“Pretty impressive, isn’t it?” Steve said.

“Hell yeah, it is,” Lucas said, giving the spacious car garage one more thorough glance. He looked at the car once more, “How did you fix it so quickly?”

“I have a team of people who work on each vehicle we get,” Steve said, “I decided to make you guys a priority.”

A few feet away from them, the others took a closer glance at the Chevy. They noticed the sleeked appearance of it, the outside devoid of the dirt that accumulated on it during the past few days. Eleven knocked on the windows, noting the durability of them.

“I have two questions, Steve,” Dustin said.

“Spill,” The older said.

“First of all, what’s your power?” He asked, “Second, how do you know your last name?”

Steve shook his head.

“Not answering questions that have to do with any of that,” He said, “That’s not what I’m here for.”

“Why not? We’re just like you; you shouldn’t have a problem telling us,” Dustin retorted.

“I don’t like bringing up my past, I live as a regular person now so I put that all behind me,” Steve replied, “And we won’t see each other again once your car is completely fixed and you guys leave…to wherever you’re going, so there’s point in spilling out my life story.”

“We’re heading to New York,” Dustin said, “To this place called the Institute of Power and Energy.”

Steve had a momentary lapse of surprise, but he regained his composure. He looked as if he didn’t want to lose his guard in front of the curly-haired boy.

“Does that place ring a bell to you?”

“I already told you, I’m not answering any question that has to do with Hawkins Lab,” Steve said, “Now go look at what great job I did on your car. I’m pretty sure it’s my best handiwork I’ve done so far.”

Dustin sighed. He knew his curiosity about Steve was never going to leave. Like them, he was most likely prodded on and abused within the Hawkins facility. Like them, he escaped and built a life for himself – Dustin couldn’t blame himself for his sudden curiosity about this guy. Not to mention, Steve answering the questions he had would probably give them much needed answers about the destination they were headed to.

“Okay, maybe you’ll answer this,” He said, his mind persistent, “Why did you have to be all secretive about this at first? You could have told us from the beginning that you were a Hawkins Lab subject instead of hiding it and then proceeding to steal the car.”

“Cause I didn’t want to tell you guys in the first place. I hoped you wouldn’t notice your car suddenly vanishing within the day it would take me to fix it, since you hid it in such an obscure area. But I miscalculated and fucked up and now we’re in this situation.”

“You sure did-”

“Dustin, you have to check out the paint job…I think that’s what they call it…but come look, the car looks brand new!” Max interrupted them, running to Dustin who stood across from Steve. She faced Steve, a grin on her face, “Dude, you have no idea how thankful we are for this.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Steve said, he looked back at Dustin, “You heard her, go look at your car.”

A much dejected Dustin proceeded to do that.

 

\------

 

By the time the afternoon hit, they left the underground car garage, retreating back into their motel room. Steve told them that the car would be ready for them tomorrow morning as they were planning on leaving tomorrow afternoon.

The day went by quick, nighttime coming by faster than expected.

Mike turned his head around when he felt the weight of the bed dip. His heart skipped a beat when he saw that it was Will. He once again moved from the uncomfortable singular chair to bed like he did last night. The short boy paused when he caught Mike’s stare on him. He had settled his knee on the mattress, but the other half his body was not on the bed yet. Will bit his lip, in embarrassment – he thought Mike was asleep all this time. He didn’t want the dark-haired boy to catch him climbing onto the bed. They still weren’t on good terms so it was an awkward ordeal.

“You can come on the bed, Will.”

Mike broke the silence, making sure not to speak too loudly as the others were fast asleep.

Will silently did that, humiliation masking his expression. He kept as much space as he could from Mike, his body on the verge of tipping off the edge of the bed and onto the floor.

“I know you did the same thing last night, you don’t have to be so uneasy about it,” Mike continued, his tone accidently coming off as snooty. He almost grimaced; this was not how he wanted to resume things with Will.

It was silent between the two as they both faced away from each other on the bed. Mike quickly assumed that Will was going to continue to give him the silent treatment. He breathed through his nose and clutched his pillow; why was he so nervous all of a sudden? He wasn’t supposed to be nervous.

“Yeah, go ahead and rub it in my face.”

Mike swallowed, his lingering assumptions reinforced. Will’s voice sounded taciturn. It was hardly a change from yesterday. He couldn’t blame Will, he did come off as patronizing with that sentence. The younger of the two was bound to take his words the wrong way.

“I was having nightmares,” Will broke the silence.

That was when Mike turned and faced Will.

“Will-”

“…and I can’t sleep alone because of them,” He continued, interrupting Mike mid-sentence.

There was yet another expectant silence, longer than the last. They were still facing each other, making it all the more awkward. Mike could see Will’s prominent hazel eyes on him – moonlight peeking from the adjacent window keeping the room from being encroached by darkness. It was clear Will was waiting for him to say something.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Mike finally said, his voice calm. He questioned whether that was the right thing to say. He remembered Eleven’s words of advice from earlier today; he didn’t want to come off as pushy.

“Not now,” Will shook his head.

Mike opened his mouth briefly, feeling himself about to object to Will’s answer. That was when Will interrupted him again.

“Can we…can we just talk about anything else?”

The older of the two looked surprised for a moment, especially since this came after Will avoiding him for the whole day. Will, on the other hand, felt like he was torturing himself as each minute of the day passed, it was unlike him to close himself off to his closest friends. He was starved for communication of any kind, especially with Mike.

“Yeah, of course,” Mike heard himself say before he could think. He was thankful, in a way, that Will wanted to talk…to him.

But the issue was, what could he talk about? He was pretty sure Will didn’t want him to bring anything up having to do with what transpired yesterday and the days before, much to his chagrin. He didn’t want to make it awkward either by bringing up the most random topic either. Mike almost cursed himself; why did Will turn him into such an awkward mess?

“Your face looks pale,” Will spoke up.

Mike was taken aback, admittedly a bit offended as he didn’t know whether Will meant that as an offhanded jibe or not.

“My face _is_ pale,” Mike retorted.

“I’m just saying it looks paler than usual,” Will shrugged with a small, upward movement of his shoulders.

“Oh, I didn’t notice,” The older said, a little bit flustered. He was self-conscious about his complexion, but he didn’t let himself get offended at Will’s comment, “…Could be that I’m not getting enough sleep.”

Will’s gaze on Mike lowered. His eyelids were downturned and his lips were pressed together. Will felt a sudden bout of guilt envelop him when he heard that last sentence. He quickly gathered that Mike was having trouble falling asleep due to Will’s condition alongside many other issues they had to worry about. Will was conflicted at the moment, he didn’t want to talk about what was going on cause there was already a lot at hand but he felt bad for making the others, especially Mike, worry about his state as much as they did.

“I don’t think I’ll have much trouble sleeping this time around though,” Mike continued, earning a surprised glance from Will, “…Since we have one problem off of our plate.”

“Yeah,” Will quietly said, “No more wind attacking our faces.”

“…and new headlights,” Mike said, “For the price of nothing.”

Will tried to get himself to let out at least a small chuckle at Mike’s added quip, but he couldn’t bring himself to do so. There was a looming pang in his chest, the guilt preventing him from expressing any form of happiness. Will absently turned so his back was against the bed; he blinked his eyes several times as he stared up at the ceiling.

“Now I feel kind of bad for treating Steve the way I treated him. He could have stopped helping us altogether because of that, but he didn’t. I should thank him properly when see him tomorrow,” Mike rambled, surprising himself for admitting this. He was usually stubborn when it came to admitting his mistakes; Max, Eleven, and even occasionally Will would make sure to point that out, “You think he found out what his last name was from the Institute– Will?”

He noticed the smaller boy crouched his body together on his side, facing away from him. He heard very muddled but audible sobs escape Will’s mouth. The younger kept his hand pressed against his mouth, attempting to subdue the noise, but he couldn’t control himself; his suppressed emotions were aching to come out during the entirety of the day.

It was a contrast from the lack of tears he had yesterday night. He didn’t want Mike to see him like this. He didn’t want the others to wake up and see him like this.

“…Will, it’s okay to cry.”

Will shut his eyes when he felt tears escape his cheeks. The absolute hurt and worry in Mike’s voice made it all the more worse; Will suddenly let out a torrent of louder sobs, causing him to unintentionally uncover his mouth. He hated being like this; he hated being emotionally vulnerable.

Mike could see Will’s shoulders tremble as the younger cried.

In a matter of seconds, Will felt his face collide with Mike’s chest. He was taken aback, but he had no time to recollect his initial surprise from Mike’s sudden action. The older boy snaked his arms around Will, keeping a tight embrace around him before pulling him in closer.

Will’s body continued to shake against Mike’s hold, his hands smushed in between them. He could feel his avalanche of tears quickly dampen the shirt he wore, but that was the least of their problems at the moment.

It was absolutely devastating to see his best friend in this state. It made Mike harbor even more guilt when he felt he was unable to protect him. As the oldest of the six, that was his job – to lead in a fair and impartial way and to protect and it felt as if he was failing badly at that. He knew he couldn’t afford to fail the others.

A good few minutes had passed, all silence, except for Will’s soft sobs.

“I’m sorry,” Will suddenly apologized, his voice muffled against the other boy’s chest.

“Hey, you don’t have to apologize. I’m the on-”

“Let me finish,” The other said, his voice solid. He pulled away from Mike to make his voice audible, “Please.”

Mike nodded, slightly loosening his hold on Will.

“I didn’t mean to make you worry like that,” The younger said, wiping at his residual tears with both hands. He let out a forced chuckle, earning a perturbed furrow of the brows from Mike, “Gosh, I’m such an idiot– I-I can’t believe I’m crying over this…now I’m making you feel even more guilty when it’s me who should be feeling that guilt.”

Will put even more space in between them.

“I’m surprised I haven’t overheard any of you guys go on about how over-sensitive or spineless I am.”

Mike felt his heart sink at those words.

“Stop putting yourself down all the time. None of that’s true and you know it, we all know it,” Mike said,

“Mike, you don’t have to say that to make me feel better. I’m allowed to have faults, you know,” Will replied, “I’m sure you guys unconsciously think that from time to time and that’s fine, because it’s true. Lucas and Dustin have said I need to toughen up, Max implied it when we were in Mirkwood, when Hopper lived with us he repeatedly told me that it wasn’t okay to let my emotions get in the way of thinking and I’m pretty sure El even thinks it sometimes too.”

“Hopper?” Mike said, his voice in disgust, “Fuck what Hopper thinks. Listen-”

He stopped when he heard a scuffle come from one of the beds, afraid that they woke someone up. He could vaguely make out Dustin turn around on the bed he shared with Lucas, absently pulling away the entire bedsheet for himself. Mike let out a relieved sigh through his nose when Dustin continued to lay motionless on the bed, the bedsheet cocooned around him.

“I was out of line too. You were right about me being a hypocrite,” Mike continued, his voice quieter, afraid that someone would wake up for real if he spoke at his previous volume, “and I’m serious when I say you’re none of those. When I think of over-sensitive I think of easily offended, petulant, and snappy or angry if someone throws any form of disapproval at you. You’re nothing like that. And spineless? You’re not spineless. You’re one of the bravest people I know, if not the bravest.”

Will bit his lips, his heartrate rising. He could feel himself rapidly become flustered at the compliments Mike was throwing at him.

“You don’t have to be like the stereotypical macho type of guy to show bravery or be brave,” Mike added.

“…I know that, I-it’s just-” Will stopped himself when he felt himself about to object to Mike’s compliments. That was actually one thing he needed to improve about himself, he needed to learn how to take genuine compliments, “…Thank you, Mike.”

Mike felt his lips tug into a smile when he saw Will’s straight expression change into a smaller one. It was a smile that actually reached his lifelike eyes; that sudden liveliness absent in previous days.

“…and honestly, there’s nothing wrong with being a little bit sensitive. Hell, that’s probably my favorite quality of yours. You’re understanding of others and hyperaware of how people feel. You always make an effort to understand if you don’t at first…kind of like what you’re doing now.”

Mike’s heart skipped a beat when he noticed Will’s smile get wider.

It was Will’s turn to give his best friend a hug, in which he did. Mike eagerly returned it.

“I’ll tell everyone everything after we reach the Institute,” Will said, after they broke apart their hug, “Is that okay?”

Mike nodded, “That’s okay.”

“Our main goal is to find the answers about where we came from, without any distractions,” Will said, “…I want to know who my mother and father are; I’d also like to know what my last name is.”

“Me too,” Mike said, “But if anything strange happens to you again, we have to push aside everything and you have to tell us exactly what’s going on, okay?”

“Understood,” Will replied, without any hesitation. Mike resisted the urge to smile at the lopsided thumbs-up that Will gave as they both were laying on their side.

“Also, I’m sorry if I was being too overbearing yesterday and for peeking through your sketchbook without your permission. It’s just that– I don’t want anything like that to ever happen to you again. I love you too much for that to–” Mike stopped, his face heating up. There was a noticeable red tint that formed over his freckles as he realized how close he was to finishing that sentence. Will raised his eyebrows, moreso at Mike’s sudden halt. The older boy quickly regained his composure and continued, “W-What I m-meant was that I l-love all of you guys. You’re all my family, the only family I know of; seeing any of you get hurt or losing either of you guys – that’s my biggest fear.”

The dark-haired boy sighed and furiously rubbed at his face with the palm of his hands, his discomfiture lingering.  He was conflicted…he and the other five frequently expressed their love for each other as a family back when they lived in the cabin, as a group and as individuals, to each other – like how siblings say they love each other or their parents. Why did he all of a sudden feel weird when he singled out Will by directing those words at him alone? He never ever remembered feeling that way.

The flustered Mike felt Will gently remove his hands from his face, silently telling the older boy that he didn’t need to be too self-conscious about his choice of words.

“I love you too, Mike,” Will said back.

Mike’s eyes widened, his lips were parted briefly as he was left wordless. He quickly changed his expression into a smile, albeit an uncharacteristically timid one. He could feel his persistent heartbeat become more erratic. There it was again, that feeling. Mike’s pronounced confusion was frustrating; Will had said the four letter L word to him and vice versa many times before as they all had a family dynamic. Why was he taking it so differently this time?

“Go to sleep, Will,” Mike finally got himself to say, with a teasing lilt, “You’re making me feel all mushy inside and I don’t like it.”

Will scoffed.

“Fine,” He said, scooting upwards until his head was fully on his pillow, “Goodnight.”

Mike briefly bit his lip.

“…Goodnight, Will.”

 

\------

 

Will’s eyes remained on Mike’s sleeping form. He was on his side, his arm carefully tucked under his head. His eyes slightly twitched and his eyebrows were furrowed. He was having a nightmare, one that involved Will’s condition getting worse.

The brown-haired boy was hopeful Mike would sleep peacefully this night, but the disturbing dream the eldest was currently having would guarantee a daytime of distress for him. Growing distress that he had to keep to himself as he told Will that he wouldn’t bring it up until after they found their personal files in the Institute.

Will wiped his nose once more before scooting closer to Mike. He pulled up the bedsheet so it would adequately cover the both of them. Mike slightly moved his head as he repositioned his hand under it. Will paused for a moment, noticing Mike’s softened expression. His jaw wasn’t as clenched, his breathing wasn’t as labored, and his expression was fairly neutral, but there was still a tense feel to his entire self. Will absently brought his hand up until it was inches away from the other boy’s face; he brushed stray strands of hair that fell over Mike’s eyes. Will’s eyes briefly trailed down to his parted lips before he refocused them on his face.

It was then Will slowly leaned forwards and pressed a soft kiss on Mike’s cheek.

He quickly turned around, no longer facing the facing the older boy. He stayed that way, until he fell asleep too.


End file.
